Tantei and Meitantei
by MewShiny
Summary: I'd hate to spoil the plot but... let's just say Shinichi finds himself in a difficult situation... again. And the truth he finds is rather shocking. no relationships that aren't supported by the manga so NO yaoi, or yuri for that matter , please review.
1. Conan is Conan

**A/N: I'm sorry if anyone seems out of character, or if it seems a bit unrealistic, or if the plot seems a bit weak (because for fanfictions I usually just take an idea without much of a plot in mind and run with it until I come up with one). I have read all 811 chapters of Conan recently so I am relatively confident that no one will get too ooc. Even so this is my first time trying to write a Conan fanfic... It's a bit dialogue driven... but I hope you -whoever you may be- will enjoy it.**

**I do not own Conan or anyone else for that matter... just saying. Oh and while I have your attention, _please_ review.**

.-._.-.

I woke up in a hospital bed.

_What had happened before that?_ My head hurts just trying to remember... _I was solving a case and nothing... someone must have hit me in the head from behind._To confirm I reach to touch the back of my head. Sure enough there's a bump there, and it's sore, but there aren't any bandages so it must not have been too bad.

"Ya took a pretty nasty hit eh Kudo?" Heiji asked, causing me to realize for the first time that I wasn't alone.

"I guess so..." I managed to say, though it came out hoarse and scratchy. My throat was very dry and my stomach was almost empty..._ How long was I out?_

I glanced around but Heiji seemed to be the only person present.

_That's strange... I thought for sure Ran would..._

"If you're looking for Ran, ya just missed her, she's gone to the bathroom," Heiji said, "She was next to you until a few minutes ago."

"Why are _you_ here?" I managed to ask.

"Come on, Kudo," he said loudly, "you're my best friend, if you get hurt of course I'm going To check on you!"

_Just get used to calling me Conan already, seems like I'm going to be stuck like this for a while. Anyway I'm not sure I'd call you my_ best _friend._

"How long was..." I started to ask.

"About a day and a half."

_What? It was that serious?_

After having already talked a little bit my voice was sounding less hoarse, "but I'm wondering why you haven't told anyone else that I woke up yet... you wanted to talk to me alone about something right?"

"Actually I..."

At that moment the door began to open.

"Ran-neechan!" I said in the childish tone I had to use when I needed to be Conan.

"Conan! You're awake!" Ran said in a worried tone.

Ran stayed in the hospital room with me for a several hours, while she was there various people came in and out and talked about various things.

Because I didn't have anything physically wrong with me the hospital discharged me later that day.

Or so I'm told. Honestly, I couldn't remember _anything_ from after the door opened. I only know that much because Heiji mentioned it later when Ran had gone out shopping and Mouri had gone to play Mahjong with some friends.

"You've gotten much better at acting like a kid, if I had met you now instead of when I did I probably wouldn't have become suspicious of ya for a while..." He said.

"What do you mean? Lately I've been slipping up all the time, It's a wonder I'm still fooling anyone..."

"Well earlier it was like ya were an completely different person."

That's when I realized that there was a gap in my memory, I couldn't remember from the time the door opened in the hospital to the time that Ran and her father left. _Based on what Heiji said I was awake the whole time, and was convincingly acting as Conan._ _So, why can't I remember it?_

Heiji looked concerned after seeing my face, "Hey, what's wrong? Does it still hurt where ya got hit or something?"

"I don't remember..." I said quietly, still trying to figure out a reasonable explanation for the memory loss.

"Amnesia? I've already had to deal with an amnesiac you once (although that wasn't _really_ you)," He still sounded concerned but not quite as much as before.

I explained that I couldn't remember anything during that gap of time, Heiji tried to explain to me what all had happened during the time I couldn't remember, but neither of us were able to think of any reasonable explanation.

"What is it you were going to say back at the hospital anyway?" I asked, putting the matter of my memory loss aside for the moment.

"Ah that... It's nothing important, I was just going to ask about..." He trailed off for a moment, "... You confessing to that girl."

_When did he hear about that?_

"Wha'd ya say to her, come on we're friends, you can tell me."

_I guess he must've heard about it after the case with the 'crazy diamonds' tiles, Ran probably told Kazuha and then word must have traveled. That must be why he had also started asking me weird questions after that case._

"I didn't have much of a choice..." I admitted.

I could hear the downstairs door open, my memory stops there.

...

Heiji-niichan was still sitting next to me when Ran-neechan came back with the groceries.

Not long after Ran -neechan came in Heiji-niichan said, "I hear that Kudo confessed to you in England."

He looked at me and snickered a little bit, but I smiled back.

"Eh? Shinichi-niichan did that? You haven't told me about that Ran-neechan," I asked.

"Well... yes, he did..." she replied, blushing. She told us about what had happened and how Shinichi-niichan had confessed to her by saying, 'you're really troublesome, you're a troublesome, tough case. Even if I were Holmes I wouldn't be able to do it. With all these confused emotions, how can anyone be expected to deduce the heart of the girl he likes.'

"That's pretty bold of him..." Heiji-niichan said with a slightly surprised face, still smirking at me a little.

"Whoa! Shinichi-niichan is so cool!" I said, and then I added, "_Much_ cooler than Heiji-niichan."

Heiji-niichan leaned over and whispered to me in a scary tone, "Don't think I won't tell her you're Kudo."

_What's he talking about? I'm not Shinichi-niichan. Shinichi-niichan is way older than me, and taller too; plus I talk on the phone with him all the time, I couldn't do that if I were him. Heiji-niichan shouldn't lie like that, Ran-neechan will get worried about Shinichi-niichan again._

"Eh? Why would you do that?" I whispered back, "Conan is Conan. Shinichi-niichan is Shinichi-niichan."

"Yeah, yeah." He didn't seem convinced. _Why not? The truth is the truth!_

"Why were you here anyway?" Ran-neechan asked Heiji-niichan.

"Oh, well I'm actually on a case and I'm going to be staying in Tokyo for a bit," He said, "So I was wondering if I could room with this little guy, I might take him with me too"

"Well I don't think Conan would mind," Ran-neechan replied.

"But Ran-neechan!" I objected, "Heiji-niichan snores."

Heiji-niichan glared at me again_. I was just telling the truth! Why's he being so mean?_

"Really?" Ran-neechan asked.

"A little bit..." I said, mostly because I didn't want Heiji-niichan to get any madder.

"Then I'm sure it should be fine, it's your bedtime so you'll already be asleep anyway."

"Is it that late already?" I asked, Ran-neechan answered 'yes'. _But bedtime was a long time away when she left to get groceries earlier, no way that much time could have passed, come to think of it she didn't take very long to get the groceries...  
><em>  
><em>Something weird is going on. A mystery... this is a job for detective Conan!<em>

But first, I should get some sleep since it's bedtime.


	2. A rare spot on deduction from Heiji

I was in my room_. Well it's dark out so I guess it's bedtime. Being in this childish body is so annoying at times, though I guess I should be thankful I'm alive._

Heiji came in. He was glaring at me a little bit._ Why?_

_Come to think of it why is he still here? _

"Do I really snore?" he asked with a bit of a curious expression on top of his glare.

_Snore? Huh, what does that have to do with anything?  
><em>  
>"What are you talking about?" I asked.<p>

"Earlier when you said I snore, that's not true is it? It was just a bad joke," he said then made a serious expression, "or maybe there's some reason you don't want to room with me."

"I never said anything like that," I replied, "Seriously, what are you talking about?"  
><em><br>'Heiji snores'...I've never said anything like that, at least I don't think I have.  
><em>  
>"Ah! You don't remember?" He asked after a long pause, "From what time do you not remember?"<p>

_He thinks it's another gap in my memory, why would something like that happen twice in one day? It's never happened to me before now. Besides, I remember what was happening up until now, I was...I was..._

_Actually... when did I come to my room? Weren't Heiji and I talking just a moment ago... hm... the sun was still out at that time..._

_Why don't I remember anything?  
><em>  
>"Huh... I can't remember anything after you asked me about my confession..."<p>

"Oh that? Man, you really are pretty bold ya know, saying something like _that._.." Heiji said in a reminiscent tone, "just after I'd asked you about it Ran came in and..."

He suddenly stopped mid sentence.

Heiji looked the same as he does when he solves a case, but he didn't say anything._ He can't have already understood what's happening to me... unless he has information I don't. But what could have happened in the time I don't remember?_

"What happened after that?" I asked, "You realized something didn't you? Come on, tell me, it's my problem."

"I'm not exactly sure yet, so I'm going to test it first, but you said it yourself, though I guess you don't remember that."

_Why is he always so annoying when he figures something out before I do? Is he really that obsessed with competition?  
><em>  
>"Can't you at least tell me what happen in the time that I don't remember? I need to keep up with what I can because, if this keeps up I might forget to act like a kid in front of Ran, or I might even forget my real identity."<p>

"Nah, I wouldn't be to worried about that if I were you," Heiji said with a yawn, "anyway it's past your bed time, kid."

I could already tell that he wasn't going to say anymore, I guess he was pretty upset about the snoring comment I apparently made. With nothing else to do I crawled into bed and fell asleep.

...

Ran-neechan came in to wake me up in the morning for school, but I had a fever so I didn't go. Ran-neechan told me to get some rest, she even made me breakfast and let me eat it in bed.

"Ah... good morning, Kudo," Heiji-niichan said, yawning as he woke up.

_Even if he's a detective like Shinichi-niichan Heiji-niichan can be so stupid sometimes. Ran-neechan told me about how I look just like Shinichi-niichan did when he was my age, but still... Heiji-niichan is so silly for mistaking me Shinichi-niichan.  
><em>  
>"Eh? 'Kudo'?" Ran-neechan asked.<p>

"Ack..." Heiji seemed a bit panicked scrambling for a response, "Um, It was English, I said 'Kido'."

_He probably just messed up that's all, why is he so determined to cover it up? Unless... he's got some kind of secret involving Shinichi-niichan. This might have something to do with that mystery from last night!  
><em>  
>"Oh... I guess that's what it was all those other times too"<p>

"Yeah..." he replied, seeming relieved, "Ah, if ya don't hurry you'll be late fer school won't you? Don't worry, I'll take care of Conan."

"Ah, you're right! OK, I'm off then!" Ran-neechan said as she left.

"Kudo?" He asked, in a serious tone.

_Is he doing it on purpose? _

"No, it's Conan," I corrected, just to be sure, "Co-na-n. Got it, Heiji-niichan?"

"What about now?" Heiji-niichan asked.  
><em><br>Silly Heiji-niichan it's not like I'm going to magically turn into Shinichi-niichan if you ask twice,_I thought to myself, but I was feeling kinda sleepy so I didn't answer.

...

"What about now?" Heiji asked his tone similar to the one he used the night before.

"What do you mean by that? I still don't remember what happened after _that_ yesterday if that's what you mean..." I replied, and then it hit me, "_It_ happened again just now didn't it. I don't remember waking up, so _something_must have happened."

"Yeah, and you just confirmed my theory from last night..." Heiji said with a smirk, "_You_ can't remember it, because _you_weren't there."

"Aren't you the one that said I _was _there?"

"I was wrong, it wasn't _you_... It was '_Conan Edogawa_'," Heiji said, with an expression that seemed to say '_yeah I know it sounds crazy_'.

_He wouldn't be saying this sort of thing if he didn't believe it to some degree, well... he could be joking. It's not very funny, but he never has been.  
><em>

I sighed, "But I _am _Conan. Conan doesn't even really exist."

"I think you developed multiple personality disorder, probably because of that blow to the head you took a few days ago," Heiji explained, "and _ Conan_ is a dissociated personality of yours that actually believes you and he are separate people... Or seems to at least. Looks like ya become Conan when that girlfriend of yours is around."

"_Ran!_"

"Who _else_ who I be talking about! Do ya have any _other_ girlfriends running around? _Yes, Ran_!"  
><em><br>That's... unbelievable. But if it's true then it probably won't happen just when I'm around Ran... probably around the police... maybe even at school. This could get pretty bad... What if something happens while I'm Conan and someone gets hurt because it wasn't me... No... I shouldn't be worrying about this it's possible Heiji's wrong, it's happened before._

"Well isn't this kinda a good thing for you? Ya don't have to worry about her finding out your secret identity anymore," Heiji said with a thoughtful expression.

"but what if it continued _if_ I return to my real form, then I wouldn't be able to ever see her in person... Or maybe not at all."

"hmm that could be bad. I'm sure you'll handle it somehow, maybe that little girl -the cold one that lives with the professor- could help you.

_Hm... I guess he's probably right. For now I'll just have to assume that his theory about Conan and I is correct, but I hope it turns out he's wrong. _

_I can't contact Ai, she would be in school right now, but I should at least go over to the professor's house and let him know about this, he might even be able to help with some convenient but stupid new invention. Yeah... that's not likely but it's worth a shot._

"Right, I'll head over to the professor's house then," I said, getting up and heading to the door. _Huh, I feel dizzy just standing up... it's not that serious, but why is it happening? It can't be... am I going to switch with Conan again?_

"I guess I'll be heading out too then," Heiji said, also heading to the door, "be careful, you're sick (in case ya hadn't already noticed.)"

"Eh? Where are you going?" I asked.

"Oh right! You wouldn't remember... I'm here for a case."

"Tell me things like that sooner!"


	3. Conan is suspicious

"Eh? Gaps in your memory? And you think that you've developed a split personality?" The professor asked after I had explained everything to him, "And the other personality is Conan-kun?"

_Thanks for summarizing what I just said professor, you're truly a genius._

"Exactly, and it seems to only happen around people I normally would be careful about my identity around like Ran or Kogoro," I continued, "And Heiji said that Conan doesn't realize that he and 'Shinichi Kudo' are the same person."

"I see... That's quite the predicament."

_I know that._

"In any case, I want to see what Haibara thinks about this. There's always a chance it's a delayed side effect of apotoxin and not just because I was hit on the head..."

"Right, I guess that's possible," He replied, "You look pale... Are you okay Shinichi?"

"I'm fine, I've just got a cold, that's all," I said but it probably wasn't very convincing. I still feel dizzy, this is one serious cold...

"Maybe you should go lie down," the professor suggested, "I'll go get some cold medicine."

"yeah... Thanks."

I went to lie down on the couch while I waited for him to bring some medicine.

_ Is this really a cold...?_ I wondered,_ there might've been something wrong with me after all, should I have not left the hospital?_

It felt like half an hour had passed by the time professor Asaga came back with the medicine, but it should have only been a few minutes.

"And you're sure it isn't a prototype antidote that Haibara made this time," I asked just to be sure. _With the current situation that would be the last thing I'd need, I can't turn into myself when I'm not sure about all the conditions for switching into Conan._

"Well, It was in the medicine cabinet this time... so it shouldn't be anything dangerous," the professor answered uncertainly, "It'd probably ordinary cold medicine."

_'Probably'... with the luck I've been having that's definitely _not_ going to be cold medicine._

"I'll just sleep it off..." I said trying to be convincing.

Without taking the medicine I laid down on the couch and tried to get comfortable, at some point I drifted off into sleep.

I woke up to the sound of Haibara closing the door as she arrived, it didn't take her very long to realize I was there, "Why is Kudo-kun here?"

At that point I was still laying down, so they probably thought that I was still asleep. I was about to say something when Haibara's shonen tantei badge beeped.

Haibara answered, the person on the other line was Ayumi-chan, "Conan-kun isn't at his house! He must have been kidnapped!

_Do they really think that could happen?__I'm not stupid enough to get kidnapped__... well it did happen once but that was my parents, it doesn't count. _

"Actually," Haibara responded coldly, "Conan-kun is here at the professor's house."

"In that case, we'll come visit him there," Ayumi-chan answered.

Haibara hung up, "So, why is he here?"

"Well, he had something he wanted to talk to you about," the professor replied, "it's a bit important so he should probably tell you it himself."

"...Haibara, It seems as though I've..." I started to say.

"Oh, so you were awake after all," Haibara interrupted, "What's this important thing you have to tell me? It isn't something about the black organization is it?"

"No, it's not anything like that, I ..." I was cut off.

At that moment Ayumi-chan, Mitsuhiko, and Genta burst through the door. At the same time Conan's personality and mine we're switched. It was different than the other times it had happened, because this time I was still there and I can remember everything that happened, but I could do nothing about it.

...

Ayumi-chan, Genta, and Mitsuhiko came in about the same time I woke up in the professors house, by then my cold was feeling better too._ Even though I fell asleep at home not long after Ran-neechan left It's not surprising I woke up here, Heiji-niichan must've brought me here while I was asleep because he had to go out and work on that case he was talking about last night, of course he couldn't take me because I'm sick. That must be what happened, hahaha I'm such a good detective._

"Eh? What are you guys doing here?" I asked.

"It's because we're worried about you Conan-kun!" Ayumi-chan said loudly.

"Yeah," Mitsuhiko added, "You didn't come to school today so we came to visit you."

"It's just a cold," I said, "You guys don't have to worry about me."

"But Conan-kun gets sick all the time..." Ayumi-chan replied, "and you just recently got out of the hospital too."

"Conan-kun, a moment please," Haibara said, I got up and went over to a corner with her, "... What was it you were saying a moment ago?"

"What are you talking about? I just now woke up..." I replied, "Was I talking in my sleep?"

Haibara seemed a bit confused, "but Kudo-kun... you were..."

"I didn't say anything. Besides, I'm Conan, not Shinichi-niichan..." I said, trying to clear things up, "Heiji-niichan was confused about it this morning too..."

_Is Haibara involved in that secret with Heiji-niichan and Shinichi-niichan too? What are they up to, and why do those two keep mistaking me for Shinichi-niichan?_

I stuck my hand into my left pocket for really no reason at all. Haibara's cellphone seemed to suddenly went off because she got a text, after looking at it she seemed even more confused.

"Hey! What are you two whispering about?" Genta asked from the other side of the room, "It's suspicious!"

"It seems I made a mistake..." Haibara said quietly walking over to the professor.

...

_I'm just watching from the sidelines. It was the most I could do to reach into my (our?) pocket and send Haibara a text from my phone '_can't explain, ask professor_.'_

Conan didn't seem to even notice me at all, as he continued to loudly chatter with Genta, Ayumi-chan, and Mitsuhiko about what he (I... We?) missed in class that day and about Kamen Yaiba. Haibara was talking to the professor, she looked shocked, so she probably understood why I was like this now.

I was a bit worried that Conan seemed to be thinking that Heiji, Haibara, and I were up to something suspicious, but he probably won't tell Ran or anyone about it unless he gets some clear evidence. So, it should be safe for now, as long as those two don't slip up... well knowing Heiji he definitely will.

What I was most concerned about was why I was consciously 'present' this time but not the times before._ Could it be that because I became aware of Conan's existence I was able to stay? Maybe it's because I don't actively try to hide my true self around the shonen tantei..._

_Either way... it's annoying, being here, but not being able to do hardly anything... I feel so useless.  
><em>

"That's enough, you guys should head home, Conan-kun is sick and he needs rest," Haibara said suddenly.

_Is she chasing them off so she can talk to me?_

"But it'll be no fun without everyone here, we were about to play hide and seek and everything," Conan whined, I could hear him thinking; _if everyone leaves I'll be alone with Haibara again... well I guess the professor will be here too..._

_Is that really what I sound like to other people when I'm acting as Conan? Man, I must be pretty annoying..._

"You shouldn't be playing hide and seek like that anyway," Haibara replied, "and those three's parent's will worry about them if they come home too late."

Hearing this Conan remained silent, but to himself he thought, _What did I do to make Haibara angry? She sounds like my mother..._

_Exactly which mother are you remembering?_ I can't help but wonder. _Fumiyo Edogawa or Yukiko Kudo?_

I get no response from Conan, he's still completely oblivious to my existence.

"I guess you're right..." Mitsuhiko agreed

Hesitantly, both Ayumi-chan and Genta also agreed and they all left together. With their parting Conan's consciousness receded and we were switched again, but at the edge of my mind I could still feel my childish other self.

I sighed, "I'm back."

"Shinichi, just now was..." Professor started but he seemed unsure exactly how to word what he wanted to say.

"Yeah... It wasn't me."

"It looks like you're finally starting to go crazy, Kudo-kun," Haibara said.

_Who's going crazy? You're an ex-mad scientist (okay the 'ex' might be unnecessary) that's now allied with a person she poisoned. That's pretty crazy if you ask me. _I responded, "I'm not crazy. It's probably because I got hit on the head pretty hard... but do you think it's possible it has to do with apotoxin...?"

"If it were a side effect it probably would have shown up before now, and it would have probably been your brain reverting to the same age as the rest of your body but that's not the case because the other persona clearly knows that it's Conan and not Kudo..." Haibara theorized, "Well I guess apotoxin might have made you susceptible to this because it's caused you keep acting like you're two different people, but now you really are two different people."

_She seemed to be enjoying laughing at my situation._ Does she not realize that if Conan lets something slip and I get found out then she'll be found out too?

_"By the way, what's in this container?" Professor Agasa asked Haibara, holding up the questionable container of cold medicine from before._

_Haibara looked at him with her usual cold expression, "Isn't it just normal cold medicine?"_

_The professor smiled._

_You're kidding me right?  
><em>


	4. lies fix everything if only for a moment

"Yo, Kudo, what'd that girl have to say about what's goin' on?" Heiji asked me as soon as I walked in.

_Conan hasn't shown up yet, I guess that means Ran is out_, I replied, "She thought it was funny, but we still don't have any way to fix this."

"At least you won't have to worry about your identity being exposed,"Heiji said with an odd tone, "Since that Conan honestly thinks that's who he really is."

"No... There's a problem..." I started, but I wondered if I should really say anything about Conan's suspicions.

"A problem? What happened?"

_Right, if Conan slips up or tells Ran about his suspicions then it'll be the end of everything. I can't communicate with Conan, but if I warn Heiji he can at least be more careful not to slip up, maybe he'll even be able to clear Conan's suspicions somehow. Though it's too early to just tell Conan everything, he wouldn't believe it..._

"Conan has begun to think that you, Haibara, and I (Shinichi) are all involved in some kind of secret..."

"hmm? What would give him _that_ Idea?" Heiji asked.

"It's because you keep calling him '_Kudo_'," I said in a flat tone.

"It's an accident!" Heiji objected, "and it's not like we can do anything to throw off his suspicions."

"and what if he goes up to Ran like 'Shinichi-niichan and Heiji-niichan are up to something, but they're being mean and they won't tell me what they're doing!'" I suggested, "Then she beats _you_ up because she wants to know what _we're_ doing, she'd probably even tell Kazuha that we're up to no good."

Heiji gave a weak laugh, "That's pretty realistic..."

As luck would have it, at that time Ran came home causing Conan and I to switch.

...

_A-re-re? That's weird... I don't remember falling asleep, why am I home now?_

_Ran-neechan's back home from school... how long was I sleeping for? Oh well, I think my colds all better._

_Before they do anything sketchy I should tell Ran-neechan about the Shinichi-neechan/Heiji-niichan/Haibara conspiracy... there are probably other people involved too but it seems pretty important so she defiantly needs to know about it..._

_Wait...! Heiji-niichan is here too, he must've finished solving that mystery, and he probably realized I'm suspicious so he's sticking around to watch me... It's only the three of us here, what should I do? If I try and tell Ran-neechan about the suspicious thing then Heiji-niichan will probably stop me..._

"Welcome home Ran-neechan," I said. _I've gotta act casual, if I'm to suspicious then Heiji-niichan will realize I'm up to something and make up a lie to cover for himself as usual._

"Oh, hello Conan," she said, smiling.

"Heiji-niichan, did you solve that case you were talking about?"

"hm, uh yeah I solved it pretty quickly," Heiji-niichan answered.

"Ne ne, Heiji-niichan," I said trying to act normal, "let's go over there, so you can tell me all about it."

Heiji-niichan was confused, but I didn't think he'd answer me if I asked where Ran-neechan could hear, he'd probably just make up a lie and weasel his way out of it.

"What are you up to?"

"Wha- what are ya talking about, Conan?" Heiji-niichan replied with a somewhat panicked tone.

"Don't think I didn't notice! You're always calling me 'Kudo' by mistake, and earlier Haibara did too, so you, Haibara, and Shinichi-niichan are up to something right? You wouldn't be keeping it a secret if it weren't bad... So what is it?"

Heiji seemed to think about what to say for a moment.

"If I tell ya the truth will you promise not ta tell Ran?"

I didn't hesitate to answer, "No. I'll tell her if you're doing something bad."

"Kudo is in a very dangerous situation, and you, me, that cold girl, and the professor are helping him. Ya see he was shrunk when some suspicious people gave him a poison that was supposed to kill him and now he looks just like you the professor made him a bunch of gadgets to help him solve cases and you've been helping him by letting him pretend to be you so he could get away from the bad guys," Heiji-niichan explained, "but Kudo doesn't want Ran to know because she'd worry about him, so while the squinty girl works on making an antidote for the poison he's keeping his identity a secret. We actually already told ya about all this, because it's important for you to know that someone's going around using your name and face... But I guess ya must have gotten a bit of amnesia from that hit ya took in that last case and forgotten all about it."

"Really? That's so cool!" I said loudly. _To think, I was really involved in such an awesome operation! I'm like a spy! I have a doppelganger! Oooohhhh Shinichi-niichan can go to school for me and no one would notice!_

"Um... yeah and also those glasses are set up so that Kudo can hear anything you hear and see anything you see," He added like it was an afterthought , "I think there's also a receiver so you can talk to him."

_'That's right'_

_Whoa it really is true! I can hear Shinichi-niichan, it's almost like he's talking in my head! So cool!_

...

_Well, I guess it isn't completely a lie. I'm a bit surprised Heiji was able to come up with something like that so quickly. But Conan might get suspicious again if he doesn't ever get to see me in person... hopefully we'll fix all this before that happens._

Conan now seems to be able to hear some of my thoughts if I'm 'thinking' at him, under the assumption that it's the mike on his glasses that he's hearing me through. _That's pretty convenient, but I'll have to make sure I don't reply to his thoughts, of course he'll only ever reply to me out loud so we'll need to be careful not to be overheard. It might would have just been easier to reveal to him the truth that he's not real... but for now this will be safer, I'll explain that to him later.  
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Kogoro came back home in time to eat dinner with the rest of us, though it was clear he had been drinking. After dinner Heiji and I were able to talk (in private) for a while, he decided that he'd stick around for a while to keep an eye on Conan, we told Ran that it was for detective training and we told Conan it was to help fix his amnesia. I also made sure to send a text to Haibara to fill in the details on the lie Heiji had told Conan, so she would be able to act accordingly.

With that, everything should have been cleared up, if only for the moment. Still, I couldn't shake the feeling that something disastrous was going to happen soon, I tried to just brush it off; _I'm just paranoid, maybe Haibara's starting to rub off on me._

A day or two passed with nothing too strange happening. It would have been fine if things had just continued peacefully like that, of course things couldn't be that simple. I'll probably never live a simple life. Because I'm a detective.

If only Conan didn't get involved in a case, everything would have been fine.


	5. Shinichi is unlucky

**A/N: I just want to say this before we jump into the chapter, this is my first time making up a mystery and I'm sure I suck at it because my usual genre is supernatural (like time travel or dimensional travel, though I may say I'm good with mpd), but the point of the story isn't the mystery (because if it were it would have shown up before chapter five) it's the odd situation. So I'm really sorry that the mystery will more than likely be and utter disappointment after all the foreshadowing leading up to it... lacking the typical alibi tricks, difficult puzzles, and missing evidence. I'll try, but I'm not expecting much so you readers shouldn't either.**

**To make up for the crappy mystery this chapter is longer, and relies on dialogue less than the earlier chapters did...**

**By the way the chapter title was going to be "A sudden desperate situation, Shinichi should have silenced his phone!" but that wouldn't have fit...  
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**Thank you in advance, I hope you enjoy the plot and please review.**

-._.-._.-

Nothing interesting happened for two days. Kogoro had gotten a small case, but it was something he was able to handle without my help. Heiji complicated his lie, making a completely ridiculous but surprisingly believable story, which Conan continued to believe without realizing we were actually the same person.

Conan was the active personality more often than not, but it couldn't really be helped, there are so few people who actually know the truth about me that there are few people I didn't normally act as 'Conan' around before this incident. I was able to come out when I was alone with Haibara, Heiji, or professor Agasa, and occasionally when the shonen tantei were around (though naturally they didn't know I wasn't Conan); Conan would even talk to me often when he was alone, and I had plenty to think about so it's not as like I got bored. In fact it would have been nice if it had just stayed that way.

A call came to the detective office when Ran had been out shopping and Kogoro was in the bathroom, Conan picked it up.

"Hello, is this the Mouri detective agency?" the caller asked. It was a woman, judging by the voice probably in her thirties or so.

"Yes," Conan replied cheerfully, "but Ojii-san is on the toilet right now, he might be a while. Can I help you? Is it a case?"

"Who is speaking?" The woman sounded confused.

_ I suppose it would surprise me to hear a child answering a detective agency phone if I weren't used to this by now._

"Conan Edogawa, tantei sa."

"My name is Seijou Hitomi, lately... I've had the feeling there's something strange about my house..." She said hesitantly.

I assumed it was just an ordinary paranoid lady, that there was nothing strange about this case, but I listened closely anyway. Even I wasn't able to guess just how wrong I was. It wasn't actually a strange case, the opposite in fact it was utterly normal, but Conan's reaction to it was also _normal_.

"So you think there's something (like a ghost) in your house, and you want Ojii-san to investigate?" Conan replied when she had finished explaining everything, "But there's no such thing as ghosts."

"If you could get Kogoro-san to look into it anyway... please..." Hitomi said in a strained tone, clearly annoyed by having to talk politely to a child.

"Alright lady, Ojii-san and I will take the case," Conan said excitedly, but he was actually thinking '_What a boring case, ghosts aren't real. It's just a paranoid old lady.' _I couldn't help but agree.

"Thank you," She replied, "please come to my house tomorrow around six, the address is..."

Hitomi relayed her address which Conan wrote down before hanging up the phone and rushing outside the bathroom door where he shouted at Kogoro that he had a case. Kogoro, of course, was angry with Conan for accepting such a stupid case without asking about the pay and proceeded to yell at him, but he had no choice because the case had already been accepted and it'd look bad if he turned it down now.

The next day Kogoro, Conan, Ran, and Heiji went to the woman's house to investigate. I guess you could say that I went too, but with Ran around there was no way I'd be able to do anything, solving everything would be up to Heiji with the 'sleeping Kogoro' out of the picture.

Why didn't I already expect what was about to happen?

...

_Hehehe, It's mystery time! The greatest detective (Shinichi-niichan) is here_ _with me, so I can solve this case easy! But there's no point showing off in front of these people... I'd rather look smart in front of... No! I need to stop thinking about her, I've gotta focus on the mystery!_

_What were the details of the case again? Let's see... The client Seijou Hitomi is a paranoid old lady that besides living alone believes for some reason there is something (like a ghost or evil spirit) in her house. Even considering the possibility of a ghost, the house in question is only a year old and there are no reports of any sketchy events previously happening on the property (I goggled it). She sounded like an old lady so that means it's not likely to be a stalker, but there's a possibility of someone wanting to kill her staking out the house to learn her habits; but she's probably just paranoid, right?_

I tried whispering my deduction (^see above paragraph) to Shinichi-niichan to see what he thought about it, but he said that even Ojii-san would be able to deduce that much. I was kinda disappointed because I'm definitely a better detective that Ojii-san.

Hitomi-san didn't look as old as she had seemed on the phone, Ojii-san seemed to suddenly become more interested in the case upon seeing her even though she looked as her name described. The house itself looked really normal too, no matter how I thought about it, it was completely average in every way.

"Notice anything strange yet?" Heiji-niichan asked, but before I had the chance to answer he suddenly said, "Oh, right. Sorry force of habit."

_The strangest thing here is you, Heiji-niichan, what kind of habit are you talking about?_

Shinichi-niichan laughed a little. _That's strange... There's nothing funny going on here... oh he must be reading a gag manga where ever he is! I always laugh out loud when I read something funny!_

Even after looking around for two hours there wasn't anything strange about the house except the corner of one room. There was a vase full of flowers in that corner, along with a bunch of different air fresheners and stuff, but it still smelled really weird there.

"Why does only this corner smell bad?" I tried asking the lady.

She said that she didn't know, Ojii-san said it was probably because all the air fresheners were making each other smell bad; he made a defeated face when she said that the corner had always smelled bad before she had even put the air fresheners there so that couldn't be it.

Suddenly Heiji-niichan walked up to the wall and knocked on it, then he knocked on one farther away from the corner, the sounds his knocks made were different. He said, "Could it be that maybe... there's something in that wall?"

"Oh dear? What could it be?" Asked Hitomi-san, with a worried face.

"Is it all right for us to break this wall?" Heiji-niichan asked.

"If you think it will help..."

"Alright then, Ran would'ya like to do the honors?"

"Are you sure it's okay, Hitomi-san?" Ran-neechan asked. When Hitomi-san nodded that it was fine Ran-neechan used an awesome karate kick to break the wall.

For a moment it seemed like nothing was there, the a skeleton tumbled out of the wall.

...

"Call the police," Heiji said as he rushed up to observe the skeleton.

Ran nodded and dashed out with her cellphone in hand. To bad even with her out of the room Kogoro and Hitomi-san were still around so I didn't switch out with Conan.

Conan walked up next to Heiji and started looking at the skeleton attentively.

The flesh on the skeleton was nearly completely decayed, that would take more than a year so this person was probably dead a while before this house was built. There's no way that a corpse could get up and move into a wall, so that means it was put there, it can't be an accident, this is a murder.

When did this get inside the wall? There weren't any signs of damage on the wall (before Ran broke it) so the skeleton was probably put inside the wall while the house was being built rather than being added later. The question is, Why didn't the people that were building the house notice? That is, unless one of them was the culprit.

Heiji looked over at me/Conan, "You thinkin' what I'm thinkin', Kudo?"

_'Yeah, we probably came to the same conclusion.'_

"Heiji-niichan, it's okay using me to talk to Shinichi-niichan, but it'll be really suspicious if you keep calling me 'Kudo'..." Conan complained, "We've gotta keep Shinichi-niichan's situation a secret, or else the mean people will try and kill everyone, right? You should be more careful!"

"Er... right..." Heiji had an expression that seemed to say 'you're the last person I want to hear that from.' He probably had thought that Conan and I switched when Ran left until Conan had been the one to answer him.

"Shinichi-niichan says that you guys probably both think the same thing..." Conan answered his earlier question. It would have been fine if he left it at that, but he continued, "Wait one moment, I'm going to call Shinichi-niichan to see what he thinks..."

It took Heiji and I a moment to realize what was about to happen as Conan pulled the cell phone out of his left pocket and dialed my number.

_Wait a minute... He's calling me! but my phone is... Crap! He's not seriously trying to call me is he?  
><em>

"What are ya doin'? Why not just talk to Kudo the way you normally do?" Heiji asked in a vain attempt to stop him.

"If I talk to him using the receiver on the glasses it'll look like I'm talking to myself," Conan replied, he finished dialing and put the phone against his ear, "It'd be much more normal to use a cellphone."

At that moment my cellphone in his right pocket began to ring.


	6. There is only Shinichi

**A/N: A-re-re? Have you noticed that in the last two or three chapters Conan-chan doesn't sound very kiddish... I'm sorry, I didn't notice until after I uploaded them. Conan is supposed to sound really childish but surprisingly smart, and Shinichi is supposed to sound smart and sarcastic... but somehow Conan started sounding smart, a bit spoiled, and only a little childish while Shinichi sounds like a narrator because he doesn't get a lot of action. Conan's surprising mature-ness wound up being **_**a b****it**_** unavoidable in this chapter... you'll see why.**

**I hope you enjoy, please review.**

**...**

"A-re-re? That's strange..." I said, reaching into my pocket, "Why do I have another cell phone?"

Heiji-niichan looked panicked, he quickly grabbed me and said to Ojii-san before dashing out, "I can leave an easy case like this ta you, right? I just remembered I have something I need to do, and I'll be taking this kid with me... er, bye."

We passed Ran-neechan on the way out and Heiji-niichan explained that we were leaving and would see them at the detective agency later.

Once we got to a distance that Ran-neechan wouldn't be able to hear us from he said to me, "Hang up that phone, it won't help ya talk ta Kudo. We'll explain everything in a moment, trust me... oh... could ya text that cold girl or the professor and tell them we're headed there? Untill then, just try ta _stay awake_."

He let go of me and we started to walk towards the professor's house (it would be a while before we got there), I did as he asked and sent a text to Haibara saying that Heiji-niichan was taking me there.

_But what is he talking about? Stay awake... I'm not tired, it's the middle of the day I'm not going to fall asleep or anything. Why was there another cell phone in my pocket? There was only one this morning. Plus it rang when I tried to call Shinichi-niichan, so it must be his phone. In that case what was it doing in my pocket? Huh... I'm starting to feel kinda tired... _Ah!_ ... No! I've gotta stay awake!_

_What exactly is it he's going to explain...?_

"Ya remember what I told ya before about Kudo being poisoned and looking like you now?" Heiji-niichan asked, pausing just long enough for me to nod in confirmation, "Only about half of that was true."

_What?_

"We'll explain the rest when we get there..." He was silent the rest of the way to the professor's house.

Haibara answered the door. Heiji-niichan, professor Agasa, Haibara, and I all sat around the coffee table. They others all had a look of seriousness I don't think I've even seen on them before.

_Shouldn't Shinichi-niichan be here too? We're talking about him aren't we? I know that with these glasses I can be his eyes and ears but... important things should be said in person..._

"Conan-kun, I'm not going ta try ta lie ta you anymore, it's better ya know the truth anyway. So I'll cut ta the chase..." Heiji-niichan started, "The truth is you _are_ Kudo."

I didn't believe Heiji-niichan. I rejected everything he said without thought, "That's not possible! Haven't I told you before! Conan is Conan, nobody else! Why would you even say that? You're a liar!"

"Calm down, Conan-kun," Professor Agasa said awkwardly.

_Why would I calm down? It's Heiji-niichan's fault for telling such a stupid lie!_

_'It's not a lie, just think about it Conan...' _Shinichi-niichan said to me through the receiver on my glasses.

"Even Shinichi-niichan is lying... Why won't anyone just tell me the truth?" I began to break down, but in my confusion/rage I tore off my glasses and through them across the room. _I'm crying aren't I... I don't want to cry, not in front of Haibara..._

_'Why did you throw the glasses Conan?_' Shinichi-niichan asked.

"Because I didn't want to listen to yo- eh? Why do I still hear Shinichi-niichan?"

_Without the glasses I shouldn't be able to hear him even if he can still hear me if the glasses are close enough... so why do I still hear him?_

_'Why do you wear glasses in the first place?' _Shinichi-niichan suddenly asked, distracting me.

"Of course that because I don't see very well so I need them," I replied to his easy question. The others aren't saying anything... actually they don't seem to be able to hear Shinichi-niichan... _just what is going on?_

I could picture Shinichi-niichan's case solving smile as he said, _'so you can't see without your glasses? Then you're saying you can't see very well right now?'_

_Of course I can't see very well right now, you even just said so... huh? My vision is perfect?_

...

_'That's because those glasses were just a disguise to begin with.'_

He's starting to calm down now that I've given some evidence, but he's even more confused than before. It looks like it's been left up to me to convince him of the truth, can't they at least say something? I guess it's hard for them because they can't hear me... but still...

"What are you talking about? Why would I need a disguise?" Conan asked.

_'Because I looked just like myself as a kid, so I put on the glasses so Ran wouldn't recognize me. That's also the same time I made up the alias _Conan Edogawa_.'_

Conan was shocked hearing it.

_'Maybe I should start at the beginning..._ _there is only one truth, and this is it..."_

Conan nodded, the others seemed to be watching him intently, they probably wanted to know what I was saying to him though they could probably guess.

_'Ran won the Kanto karate championship and as a reward I went to Tropical land with her, when we were about to leave -Ran doesn't know about any of this by the way- I saw a man in black committing a crime_, _but I failed to notice another man in black come up behind me. They gave me a poison which shrank my body causing me to look like I had when I was a kid, I ran home but couldn't do anything so I convinced the professor that I was myself and he told me to keep my identity a secret or else those men in black might come after me again if they realized I was still alive, that's when Ran came in looking for me and I disguised myself and quickly made up a name.'_

Conan had already heard most of this from Heiji, but the tiny details that had been changed were what confused him. He had already realized that we were saying that there wasn't really a Conan Edogawa somewhere in his mind -I could tell-, but he didn't want to accept the idea and rejected it with all he had. He was muttering a little bit to himself, "No... I am... Conan is..."

Heiji, Haibara, and Agasa looked worried. I continued.

_'Ever since then I've been living at the Mouri detective agency as Conan Edogawa, originally it was to gain information about those men in black so I could return to my original form, but since that time I've learned a good bit about them and now I'm fighting against them. Those men in black were part of an organization -The Black Organization, we call it- their code-name's were Gin and Vodka... actually Haibara is a former member of that organization (her code name was Sherry), she's the one who invented the poison, her real name is Shiho Miyano and she's about twenty (I think), she had no place to go so she came and found me and has since then been living with the professor and trying to create an antidote to her poison... but so far it can only work for twenty four hours...'_

It was kind of pointless saying all of that, I'd lost his attention when I mentioned Haibara.

"...Is it true?" Conan asked quietly. I didn't need to answer that, he knew I'd have said yes anyway. He paused for a moment before adding, "...Haibara."

"What?" Haibara asked, she seemed to assume that I'd just told him about her identity.

"Even if it's the truth. Does there always have to just be one truth..." Conan said, overflowing with emotions that I was soon able to recognize, "Let Shinichi-niichan be Shinichi-niichan or he can be 'Conan' if he wants. Haibara is Haibara, to me there isn't anyone else you could be. So please, for just a little longer, let Conan be Conan."

_And Heiji said I was bold? Even if it's a bit roundabout I'm pretty sure this is a confession. Conan... likes Haibara... too bad for him...  
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There is only one truth.


	7. A lingering omen of the end

**A/N:so that no one will read too much into it (because despite my love of complicating things I dislike complications that do nothing for the plot) I'm going to go ahead a explain how the relationships are for this story, if you don't care just skip this author's note and read the chapter, kay? Also you've probably noticed by this point but for this story it's better to think of Conan and Shinichi as separate people, though you have to keep in mind they are technically the same person.**

**Ran and Shinichi both like each other. Shinichi has confessed, Ran hasn't officially responded. Ran has made it clear that she will wait for Shinichi. (Conan knows this, that's why he's so determined to have Haibara see the two of them as separate.)  
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**Conan likes Haibara but seems to dislike the idea of Shiho Miyano's existence. Shinichi on the other hand sees Haibara as an ally and friend but does not think of her as anything more.  
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**Haibara likes Shinichi/Conan (she had developed a crush on him before his personality had split so her crush has now become complicated.)The reasoning behind her crush -if you care- is as follows; she finds it comfortable to talk to him as they are on similar intellectual levels, he's rescued her on multiple occasions, she feels a closeness because of their similar situations, and in the movies she occasionally jokes about such things.**

**You can think of this as a love triangle or a love square... of even a set of romantic parallel lines if you want to, it won't really matter too much what you see it as, I'm just saying don't think I'm tring to sat that Shinichi has a secret crush on Haibara manifesting through this Conan. Of course there are other character relationships, but those are the only ones that should be important (I haven't finished planing everything out yet so i can't be sure).**

**This is chapter 7 so I guess you enjoyed the story up to this point (otherwise you have way too much free time, i suggest you take up knitting or something)I hope you enjoy the story from now on as well, please review.**

**...**

_Even if Shinichi-niichan and I are the same person, that doesn't mean we are the same! Shinichi-niichan has Ran-neechan... but what about me... can I not have a person I want to be by my side? That's really no fair!_

"Conan...?" Haibara seemed to be confused._ That's what I get for trying to sound cool like Shinichi-niichan... I guess I've just gotta say it straight out._

"I... Il... I li-"

_It's no good! I'm too nervous... can you help me Shinichi-niichan? I guess not... you already have Ran-neechan after all..._

_ Hmmm... I'm kinda feeling tired now... I guess it's a good time... for a nap..._

...

_Looks like I'm back in control now.  
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Of course they couldn't tell that we'd switched back and were a bit curious why Conan had suddenly stopped talking.

_... man, that kid has horrible timing, now everyone's going to want me to tell them what Conan was about to say. There's no way I can say something like that, they'll just have to wait for next time that he shows up._

"Everything okay, Conan-kun?" Professor Agasa asked with a little worry in his tone.

_Right, I guess I need to tell them that we've switched. _I responded, "He's fine. I think he just fell asleep, the shock probably wore him out..."

"Oh, Kudo! You're back!" Heiji exclaimed.

"Um... yeah"

"So what was Conan about to say?" Haibara asked.

_Here it is, should I just tell her he was going to confess? No way, it'd be to embarassing, especially because she'll probably wind up rejecting him. And it just wouldn't be right... A confession... is something meant to be done in person._

_Wait... What am I saying? Conan and I are the same person! If Haibara did (by some chance) accept his confession... Would that mean I have two girlfriends? No, no, no, that wouldn't happen, Haibara knows I like Ran, and it's not like Ran and I are dating anyway._

"That's... not something for me to say," I said trying to make it sound like it isn't to big a deal.

"Then I guess Kudo and I should get ta the detective agency, cause the matter's been resolved," Heiji said, "Since Conan knows the truth now there's no risk of him doing anything that reveals your identity."

_Well, he's right, one problem has been resolved, I'm not worried about my identity. For now, I'm a bit more worried that Haibara is going to see me as a pervert when Conan eventually confesses._

When we got to the detective agency Heiji tried to make me tell him what Conan was going to say, but of course I didn't. When Ran and Kogoro got home Conan and I were switched again, Heiji then tried to find out from him what he was going to say, but Conan didn't tell him. After a while he gave up.

That night after I told Conan everthing I hadn't gotten to before, Conan, Heiji, and I decided that it would be best for us to have a few code-words so Conan or I could tell him when we switched if there was anyone around. For Conan it would be 'tantei', or 'Holmes apprentice'. For me it was 'meitantei', or 'Holmes'. Of course depending on the context they might not mean we've switched, but we tried to come up with words that wouldn't come up in normal context regularly, that's why we each had more than one. We also told these code words to Haibara at school the next day and she probably informed the professor later.

The next few days passed uneventfully, without Conan being unaware of the truth there was no danger in his existing. As they days came and went, cases did as well, and we handled them in a similar way to how we had before Conan had showed up. Pretty soon Heiji went back to Osaka because he was no longer needed to keep an eye on Conan, though he still called to check up on us (me...him?) every now and then. Conan had yet to finish his confession, anytime he tried he became too nervous and switched with me.

Before I knew it, a month had passed, and Conan had become a part of my daily life.

With help from Haibara we were even able to figure out then conditions for switching. Basically:

Conan is the '_default_' personality, unless he and I try he will be the one in control of our body most often.

If there is someone that I'd normally try hard to hid my identity from then Conan will be in control, but we can switch if we want to. People that I first met as Conan (and because of that didn't try very hard to hide my identity from) depend on various circumstances, generally for most people it's Conan, but for the FBI it will be me.

No matter what if Ran was around I would be Conan, we could switch but it would only last about thirty minutes.

Conan and I could 'talk' to each other by directing our thoughts, we didn't hear everything the other was thinking. We would hear the other's thoughts if the other was emotionally excited or unstable.

With that, we were able to comfortably lead a double life without anyone becoming suspicious of us, but the ominous feeling I had before the case with that body in the wall hadn't disappeared yet. Whatever it was I felt coming back then... must still be yet to come.

...

_Shinichi-niichan seems kinda distant, but I guess I would be too if I couldn't be near the person I like or talk to them in my own voice... though I guess this voice isn't really mine either, because I kinda don't really exist. I mean I _do _exist, but there isn't really a Conan Edogawa, because I'm actually Shinichi Kudo..._

_Do I really not exist? I know that Shinichi-niichan proved it, and he told me everything about what's happened to him... but can I really not be 'Conan Edogawa'? I already asked Shinichi-niichan about it, I have memories of my childhood not Shinichi-niichan's, and my memories of this past year that he's living as 'Conan' don't quite match up with his... my memories are _definitely_ my own, so is it really true that _I'm_ the imaginary one?_

__Shinich-niichan had said that my memories were all fabricated to go with the made up persona 'Conan', and that the rest of them were probably loosely based on his own.

_It has to be truth. Nothing makes sense any other way. I can understand this one truth, it's because I can understand things like this that I don't like being a detective... the truth hurts.  
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_If only it were possible that I was real, then everything could work out._

__Even if I try my hardest I know that there's no way for me and Shinichi-niichan to both have a happy ending, either he'll get his body back someday and I'll probably disappear, or we'll be like this for the rest of our life (lives?)or maybe if we stay like this he'll disappear... That would be sad, Ran-neechan is still waiting on him...

I trust Shinichi-niichan, I'm sure he'll find the best ending to all of this. There's no way the hero is going to lose in the end.


	8. the dark shadow approaches

**A/N: I was going to try and make this story_ normal_... (I'm still going to try) and the ending I currently have in mind was going to be the alternate ending, but trying to make it _normal_ feels to forced, it won't be interesting that way. It'll be pretty tough making both endings possible... I'm going to have to foreshadow for both of them but not let anything happen that would contradict either...Why am I making this harder on myself? Because it's more interesting that way!**

** So to all the realistic people out there, I'm still trying for the _normal_ ending, but something like that might not happen and if it does it probably will feel stiff... please forgive me ^v^ I hope you enjoy anyway**

...

It was a normal day. I was walking home from school with Haibara.

"I have to stop by the store and get some groceries..." Haibara explained as we were about to pass the store. She stopped to turn and go in.

I followed, "I'll go with you, I don't have anything better to do anyway."

Not five steps after we got into the store Haibara suddenly froze up.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

She was shaking a little bit, but she acted calm, "Black."

_The black organization? Why would one of them be at a store like this...? More importantly who is it? Vermouth? Vodka? Bourbon? Gin? Someone else?_

_Vermouth isn't after the two of us so we're safe if it's her. Gin and Vodka knew our original appearances, if either of them are here then we're doomed. Bourbon would probably be dangerous too...  
><em>

I grabbed Haibara's hand and casually went behind an aisle where we would have a good view of our surroundings and wouldn't be seen. I let go of her hand when I realized I was still holding it.

_I don't see anyone wearing an excessive amount of black_ _in here, am I missing someone?_

_'I see one, A person wearing black! At the checkout, Shinichi-niichan!'_

_'Ah, Thanks Conan.'_

Looking in the direction that Conan had indicated, in that instant hatred ran through my whole body.

_Gin!_

_'The guy that poisoned you?'_

Haibara was clinging to my sleeve as if to say 'He's too dangerous, we have to hide'. Conan made it clear to me that he agreed, but that was mostly because it was Haibara and not at all based on any experience or judgement.

I whispered to Haibara, "I'm going to follow him, stay here for a bit then go to the professors house and tell him what's happened."

For a moment she didn't move, then hesitantly she let go of my sleeve. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small container, she handed it to me. Even before she said anything I had an idea of what it was, "A new trial antidote, it should take effect almost immediately if used. Take it with you just in case."

_She's giving me that 'don't use it unless you have to' look... it probably has the same predicted effect time as the previous ones. If I use it for any reason I've got twenty-four hours as 'Shinichi Kudo' but that also means that for that time 'Conan Edogawa' will mysteriously disappear... right, I'll have to be careful._

"I shouldn't need it," I said, but I took it anyway and headed in the direction of where Gin was, trying to make myself look casual.

_He was buying cigarettes, _I thought to myself, _that explains why he's in a store... but why is he in Beika? Don't tell me he's thinking 'Sherry' might be here? No, that shouldn't be possible. There should be no reason for him to think that 'Sherry' is in Beika...  
><em>

I was lucky that he didn't seem to be going to his car, if he had then it would have been difficult to follow him without being noticed and I couldn't carelessly attach a tracker to his car without making him suspicious. On foot I would be able to follow him easily without arousing to much suspicion.

I racked my brain but was unable to think of any logical reason for Gin to be walking around Beika. Unless it has something to do with a crime that has yet to be committed.

...

_It's so annoying! When Shinichi-niichan is out I can't do anything! I want to be able to help Haibara too!_

_But if that guy is really one of the guys that poisoned Shinichi-niichan when he was big... there's no way Shinichi-niichan and I could stand a chance against him like this... I guess that's why Haibara gave us that medicine._

The black guy seems to be on his guard, but I doubt that someone that shady would ever let his guard down when he surrounded by people. We just have to wait for a good opportunity to shoot him with the tranquilizer so we can capture him... or something...

Actually, I'm not sure what Shinichi-niichan is planning. If we try and capture that guy... that organization probably knows he's in this area, they'll definitely be looking for him if he goes missing for too long. It also didn't quite work before when Shinichi-niichan shot that guy with the tranquilizer while saving Haibara, if he shoots him with it again that guy will probably know for sure that Haibara is still in this area. If we try using that medicine then that guy will also realize that Shinichi-niichan is alive...

_Eh... Something about this seems strange... what is it?_

No matter how I look at it this can't end well, the only thing we can gain is information, but that guy probably won't tell us anything anyway. And our side has way to much to lose.

But Shinichi-niichan was distracted, he was to focused on thinking about that guy's motive to realize that he was fighting a losing battle, and that he had already passed the point of no return.

_'Shinichi-niichan... could this be...'_

I didn't get the chance to finish, it was already too late.

"Hmm...? What's this? I knew someone was following me... but I didn't expect it to be a brat," The man in black said as he suddenly turned, pulling out s gun.

_He knew we were following him, he led us to an empty alley in the shady side of town to get rid of us... this isn't good! No- maybe Shinichi-niichan planned for this!_

_'He knew I was following him! Not Good!'_

"Why were you following me?" The guy asked in a cold, demanding tone.

"You caught me... that's no fun... I'm sorry for following you mister," Shinichi-niichan said in the weird tone he used whenever he was pretending to be me (I don't actually sound like that right?), he continued, "It's just...I was playing detective with my friends and you looked like the sort off bad guy you see in movies so I tried tailing you... but I guess I'm not very good at it huh?"

"No you seemed to be doing well enough," He said, he lowered his gun a little bit. He seemed pretty annoyed.

_I get it! If he thinks we were with friends until just now then it'll look bad if he kills us right here and now, he won't risk it. Or maybe he'll try to find out about those friends so he can kill them too._

"Of course with you dressed like that... I would have never guessed that you were really a bad guy that would pull a gun on a kid..." Shinichi-niichan's tone returned to his usual tone halfway.

The man in black looked even more annoyed now. At this rate he might just shoot us here to shut us up right here and now.

_'Shinichi-niichan! What are you doing? He's going to kill us!'_

For a moment Shinichi-niichan didn't respond. The man in black was raising his gun, it seemed like he'd decided to kill us now after all.

_'Don't worry Conan, I can't die yet. Not while Ran is still waiting for me.'_

...and that's how it all began.


	9. digging your own grave

**Another thing I'm going to have to apologize for... Sorry but I don't seem to be very good at writing bad guys so in this chapter despite it being something of an epic face off... it's kinda weak...**

**I hope you enjoy anyway. As always please review.**

**-._.-._.-**

Using the speed of the jet skateboard I was able to avoid the bullets Gin was shooting at me, but it was beginning to get dark, pretty soon the skateboard's battery would run out. I wouldn't be able to avoid bullets in Conan's body on foot; using the medicine to return to my own body wouldn't be much different, it's not as though I would be able to move fast enough to avoid his shots, it would actually be harder to find something large enough to take cover behind, and I wouldn't have anything to wear...

_Crap, he wouldn't be shooting if there were people around... why didn't I realize he knew I was following him when he started heading to this abandoned area? _

I just needed to find something I would be able to use to my advantage before managed to catch up to me.

If I just lose him and head home then I won't have gained anything, and I'll still be targeted, _and_ Gin will know my face. I have to somehow catch him, then I can force him to give me information, or at least try to, I doubt he would say anything about the organization, at least I could arrest him.

_Seems like there are only abandoned warehouse buildings around here... it'll have to do._

I sharply turned into one of the warehouses, and found a some metal crates I would be able to hide behind... at least for a little bit. Gin entered the warehouse shortly after I had, he seemed to be enjoying himself.

"Hey Brat, What's your name," He asked, with a snicker.

_Does he think I'm stupid enough to answer him normally when he would be able to follow my voice? Well he does think I'm a kid so...  
><em>

I had placed a speaker on the other side of the warehouse while looking for a hiding place, I used to bow-tie without having it alter my voice to talk through the speaker, "My name? Don't be silly. Mister, didn't your mommy tell you that it's polite to give your own name first?"

"I guess I've never been the polite type," He said, clearly trying to sound casual to make me let my guard down. He was following the sound as I had suspected he would.

"That's no good... Having goods manners is always important, if you're rude then nobody will ever like you..." I said in the usual childish tone, I wished I could see the look on his face when I added, "..._Gin_."

"How did you...!" He exclaimed, after seeming the tiniest bit worried for a moment he calmed down, his tone was filled with anger, "Who are you?"

"Didn't I just tell you..." I sighed, "If you want me to tell you who I am, tell me your name first. Your real name,_ Gin_."

_Of course I don't expect him to actually tell me his real name, but if I can get him worked up then he won't be able to properly think about his actions, it should be able to create an opening._

He was near the area where the speaker was now, he'd probably discover it soon.

"Of course, if you're going to kill me anyway I guess it wouldn't matter to you if you knew who I was or not? It seems you don't remember me anyway, I guess I should be thankful for that," I asked, "but did I really leave that little of an impression on you last time?"

"'Last time'...?"

He was probably pretty worried now, though if he was it didn't show at all, with this I made it clear that we had gone against each other before and that I had at least been good enough to survive. Of course he had no way of knowing when 'last time' was.

"I guess you probably don't remember, but you tried to kill me, ever since then I've been fighting against your organization," I said.

I could hear a loud gunshot followed by Gin quietly cursing, he'd found the speaker, it would probably be broken now, at the very least it would no longer be very useful.

_It would be to much of a risk to continue talking to him, I'll just have to see if I can get a clear shot with the tranquilizer while he's trying to find out where I really am._

Gin knew that without the speaker I would probably say nothing more, he didn't bother trying to get me to. However he found me pretty quickly, I apparently had no luck that day.

He probably wouldn't have found me if my cell phone hadn't started ringing.

...

Shinichi had been doing really well up until that point. If Ran-neechan hadn't called he might have been able to make it through the situation just fine, but it wasn't so much that she had called... rather that she had called Shinichi-niichan's phone.

Even if it was risky, to answer it, leaving it ringing would be stupid, and if he had just answered and hung up without saying anything she would have immediately called back to yell at him. Knowing this Shinichi-niichan quickly set the voice changing bow tie and answered the phone in his own whispering voice, "This is a really bad time... I can't talk right now. I'll call you when I can."

He hung up before Ran-neechan even had the chance to reply to him, but even so it had been too long.

The black guy's footsteps were close enough no that running wouldn't be possible. He turned around the corner of the metal crates with his gun pointed directly at my (Shinichi-niichan's... our?) head, his cold smile wouldn't have looked out of place on the devil.

"Who were you talking to just now?" The shady guy asked, having heard Shinichi-niichan's voice he probably thought that there was someone else here, that's good he won't kill us right away because we have an accomplice that could be ready to report to the police the moment things go south.

"My niichan," I said in forced cheerful tone.

_'A-re-re! When did Shinichi-niichan and I switch again! I won't be able to handle a guy this shady on my own!'_

"Where is your 'niichan' now, little boy," The shady guy sounded like the wolf from that one story... _what was it again...? Oh! Little Red Riding Hood! That's the story I was thinking of._

"My niichan is here," I replied. _I should definitely make him think that we're not alone here, it's the only thing I can do when he's so on guard. It's not like I was lying or anything._

"Are you sure he didn't run away and leave you?" He asked.

"My niichan is a detective, he wouldn't ever run away when there's someone as sketchy as you around!" I answered, but on the inside I wasn't so sure, '_Right, Shinichi-niichan? Shinichi-niichan?... Shinichi-niichan?'_

_No good..._ he wasn't answering. I guess he must've fallen asleep like I always seem too.

"If he's here than where is he?" His words seemed sweet but his tone and face betrayed his much crueler disposition.

_If Shinichi-niichan is asleep on the job then it falls to me to get myself out of this situation! Alright, I can do this, I _am _Shinichi-niichan._

"He's behind you... didn't you notice?" I asked trying to sound convincing, which apparently I was. All my bluffs up till that point had began to make him worry that someone else was indeed here, so when I said that person was behind him he quickly swiveled around.

Of course there wasn't actually anyone behind him, but for that narrow gap of time he was vulnerable. I quickly shot the tranquilizer so that it hit his neck, he didn't fall asleep immediately, rather he turned back to face me with slowed movements and drew his gun to his own arm and shot.

_It didn't work... he was able to resist the tranquilizer... crap, crap..._

I didn't have any other options left so while he was still slowed down I ran.


	10. the worst possible scenario

**A/N: Even after having made an announcement about it two chapters ago I can't come up with a somewhat exciting normal ending! Which is why... as far as a normal ending is concerned I've already given up all hope for that, so you can look forward to the interesting ending that I've actually been hinting at for a while now despite the fact that it was originally planned to be an alternate ending... Yeah I'm just not the sort of person that's suited to normalcy...**

**Well, if you have read this far I can only assume that you've enjoyed the story thus far (either that or you just didn't have talent for knitting) so I hope that you enjoy it from here on out as well. Please review, criticism helps (because it makes me improve to shut it up), and compliments improve my self esteem!**

**Wow I sure rambled this time... in any case (I apologize in advance for this v.v): I am an otaku with the body of an American teenager, there will be only one ending!**

**-._.-._.-**

I'd managed to get away. After losing Gin I wandered around for a little bit before going to the professor's house just to be sure no one had followed me.

"Shinichi!" The professor remarked when I came in, "Ai-kun told me what happened... I was worried..."

Haibara was shocked, "Kudo-kun? You're alright?"

For a moment I didn't say anything, _is it really that hard to tell the difference between Shinichi-niichan and me? It's really awkward having to tell if they get it wrong... I bet this is how it feels being a twin._

I finally replied, "Shinichi-niichan got tired... So..."

"Oh! Conan," Professor Agasa interrupted my awkward rambling.

I told them what had happened with Shinichi-niichan and Gin, and I explained how I'd managed to get away.

"In other words Gin would now be able to recognize your face, and also your and Kudo-kun's voices?" Haibara said disdainfully, "Meanwhile we've gained nothing."

"No..." I was hesitant to reply, "Now he knows that I'm an enemy, he's probably going to come looking for me...but no one else should be in danger, just Shinichi-niichan and I."

"Right... Ai-kun should be safe as long as they don't figure out that you are Shinichi..." Professor Agasa started to say, but Haibara interrupted him.

"_Idiot!_ Even if they don't find out that he's Kudo's shrunken self they'll investigate the people around 'Conan', they're sure to find that there isn't any records of him existing before this year, but even if they didn't there's no way that they won't find me!" She said loudly, "If Conan was supposed to be one of the Professor's relatives that's staying with Mouri because the professor _doesn't_ know how to take care of kids then won't they find it strange that 'Haibara Ai' is_ also_ supposed to be one of his relatives but she lives with him and appeared around the same time Sherry disappeared?"

_Well... when you put it that way..._

When I realized how late it was I called Ran-neechan and told her that I would be staying at the professor's house to play a new game.

The next few days passed by normally, no strange cases popped up, no suspicious black-clothed people had tried to kill me yet, no signs that my normal daily life had been significantly changed, but I got more and more worried.

Shinichi-niichan hadn't shown up since his epic face off against Gin.

I didn't tell anyone that Shinichi-niichan disappeared, I didn't want to worry them needlessly. When Haibara and the professor had begun to get suspicious of Shinichi's not having shown up lately I went so far as to pretend I was him once or twice, and occasionally I would talk to myself out loud as though Shinichi-niichan was replying in my head. They believed me, meanwhile I began to worry even more.

I wasn't the only one worried, Ran-neechan was worried too, Shinichi-niichan had told her he would call when he could but of course he hadn't called yet, I wasn't confident that I could act like Shinichi-niichan well enough that Ran-neechan would believe me. So she continued to worry about him even more than I was.

_What if Shinichi-niichan is gone for good? _I would wonder, but I always just shook off the though, _but he promised he wouldn't die because Ran-neechan is waiting for him! Disappearing forever would be like dying!_

Then one day, I saw _him_ standing at the front gate outside the school, that shady black guy, _Gin_. Class wasn't over yet but it would be soon. It was easy to tell why he was there, he was waiting for me.

I told Kobayashi-sensei that I needed to use the bathroom and ran out.

_I've gotta get rid of that guy before Haibara notices he's here... if she sees him... she'll..._

_But can I really go up against this guy without Shinichi-niichan? I'm not very strong or fast... the tranquilizer doesn't work very well on this guy (maybe if I had more than one shot...) that leaves the anywhere soccer ball belt and the kick power enhancing shoes... but that still takes time to line up. Without Shinichi-niichan I can't do very much..._

Even if I couldn't do anything on my own, I still had to try, for Haibara's sake. Besides, I still had one trick up my sleeves... or rather, in my pocket. Even if I'm not prepared to use it...

If I were planning -somewhere in the back of my mind- to run away from Gin again, it was too late already, because I was right in front of him.

"It's been a while..." I said. I was trying to sound cool like Shinichi-niichan always does, but I think he could probably tell that I was a little nervous.

"Hmmp, you're completely different than you were yesterday, brat," Gin said, with a disappointed look. _I guess he's smart enough not to try anything on school property in full view of anyone that chooses to look out the window. He's probably planning to take me somewhere, and either kill me or he'll get me to give him information and then kill me._

_Whatever the case may be the outlook isn't bright.  
><em>

"Yeah, that happens sometimes, you probably shouldn't think too much into it," I replied, however slight there was still a hint of nervousness in my tone.

_I probably shouldn't have said that... naturally any person's response to someone saying such a think would be to think about it more... if he thinks too much into it he might realize I have multiple personalities. Well that's not likely, he's only met me twice._

"So, where are you going to take me, mister Gin?" I wondered aloud.

His glare seemed to say, 'You're annoying, just get in the car, stupid brat.' I had no option but to comply and get into the backseat of his black Porsche 911, refusing would have made a scene, and that would have been inconvenient for both of us.

"Are you not going to try asking me who I am today?"

"I've already looked into you," He replied coldly, "Conan Edogawa, age seven, you've been associated with criminal cases since the time that you first appeared a little less than a year ago. Right? Of course I have other information, but there's no point in telling it all."

"Do you really believe that all of that is true?" I asked, finally managing to shake the nervousness out of my tone, I sounded cool like Shinichi-niichan. At least I think I did.

Gin looked at me, giving a questioning glace with the rear-view mirror.

"You can either choose to trust that that information is true, or you can doubt it. Then there's the possibility that some is true but not all. I guess it won't make much of a difference what you choose to believe, my niichan will beat you anyway."

"You seem to put a lot of faith in that niichan of yours," He said with a bored tone.

"That's because he's beaten you a few times before, but I guess you never noticed him..." I sighed, "Not surprising, considering you thought you had already killed him, you would have never imagined he'd come back from the dead. Would you?"

"And who is this niichan that came back from the dead?" Gin asked, laughing at my childish nonsense.

"Ask him yourself once he shows up."

_Please show up soon Shinichi-niichan! Please it's going to get dangerous if you don't._

"Of course no matter how you try to interrogate me I won't tell you about that person you were looking for, and I also won't tell you the reason niichan and I are fighting you, because those two things are related," I said suddenly, "May I please make a request? Once you're done with me and decide to kill me please give me one hour in a room alone without any audio or video surveillance, I have some embarrassing last words I'd like to give to someone."

"Fair enough."

The rest of the drive was silent, I wasn't able to tell where I was being taken, and he knocked me out before we arrived at the destination.

They tried to interrogate me but as promised they failed, pretty soon that time came. Gin -true to his word- locked me in what appeared to be a confinement room alone and there didn't appear to be any surveillance devices in the room either. The room contained only a bed and dresser, but that was all I needed for my plan.

Quickly I checked the dresser, there were clothes in it, perfect.

It was almost time to use the trump card in my pocket, but before that, there was something I needed to do.

I had already dialed my cellphone and waited for it to be answered, "Even if I'm not as good as Holmes, I'm still a tantei. What I'm about to say is the truth; I love you Haibara, in the same way Shinichi-niichan like Ran-neechan. I kind of hoped you and I could be together... but I don't think that will ever happen. I'm sorry."

"C-Conan-kun?"

"It looks like I'm about to put you in danger. I guess Shinichi-niichan and I are the same after all, I can't just sit still when I know about the crimes those people are committing..." I couldn't help but pause for a moment with the emotions welling up inside me, "if you knew what I was about to do... you'd probably call me a fool... that's why I won't tell you where I am or what I'm doing, but just in case I wanted to say 'goodbye.'"

Before she could respond I hung up the phone and tossed it onto the bed. I have fifty-five minutes left in my hour.

I pulled it out of my pocket, my trump card, the experimental antidote that would supposedly turn me into Shinichi-niichan for twenty-four hours. I took in a deep breath, confirming to myself my own resolve, and swallowed the pill.

It hurt, every inch of my body burned like fire. My vision became dark, I couldn't even move. I could feel my consciousness fading.

_Shinichi-niichan... It's up to you from here... you better not... keep Ran... -neechan... waiting..._

...

_I'm alive?_

_My body hurts all over..._

_Where am I? It seems I'm locked in a room with only a bed and a dresser... What's going on?_

My phone was on the bed ringing. I picked it up.

Immediately a girl shouted at me, "Conan-kun! You had better explain yourself! Where are you? What are you doing?"

"Haibara?"

"Huh? Your voice is... oh, so it's Kudo-kun this time," Haibara replied, "Please let Conan-kun know that I'd like a proper explanation of what he was saying before."

"I would but...'Conan'..." I trailed off because it was kind of embarrassing to say, "...I don't know anyone by that name."


	11. Just who is Conan

**Ah... as usual Shinichi makes the perfect tsukkomi~~ And in this chapter the perfect boke for him makes his appearance(he's mostly just showing up because I love him as a character, I haven't figured out how to make it relevant to the plot yet...)! Be prepared for the tsukkomi and boke lines, I'm warning you! The comic relief just might kill you.  
><strong>

**As usual please enjoy, and please review.**

**-._.-._.-**

"'_Conan_'?...I don't know anyone by that name."

I could hear Haibara gasp on the other end of the phone, I guess this 'Conan-kun' was someone I should know very well.

"Did you mean... Arthur Conan Doyle, the author of Sherlock Holmes? I know of that 'Conan', but he died years ago, I can't exactly contact him," I tried, but it seems that wasn't what she meant.

"Where are you?" She asked suddenly, her tone was louder than before.

"A black room with only a bed and a dresser," I replied, "There are no windows, and the only door is locked from the outside."

"What exactly happened since you left class..." She asked more quietly, "Why are you there... talking on this phone, with that voice?"

"Huh? Is there something strange about my voice?"

"You wouldn't usually use the voice changer to talk to anyone but Mouri or the police...don't tell me... you aren't..." She trailed off, but it sounded like it was something really important.

"What are you talking about?"

She paused for a moment, when she spoke her tone implied the utmost seriousness, "Do you really not know who Conan-kun is?"

_huh she's going back to this? Of course I don't! Conan isn't a common name so if I knew someone like that I probably wouldn't forget._ Still having no clue I replied, "Honestly, I don't know anyone named Conan."

_This 'Conan' she's talking about... clearly he's someone she knows fairly well but can't get in contact with directly, also he has some sort of strong connection to me, otherwise she wouldn't have called my phone to talk to him. Then shouldn't that mean that I know who he is?  
><em>

Haibara serious/worried tone was somewhat creepy, "Kudo-kun... listen, I'm not sure why but it seems you've..."

I heard footsteps near then door, then they suddenly stopped right outside the room I was in.

"It looks like I'll have to be going," I said, preparing to hang up.

"Wait! Kudo-kun!" She managed to shout before I closed the phone.

There was a single knock on the door before it opened.

"Time's up."

_Eh? Gin? Where in the world am I?_

"Hmmm? Where'd the brat go?" He asked, his gun was already in hand, "You wouldn't happen to be the '_niichan_' that kid was talking about would you?"

_He didn't know I was here? No, rather he expected a kid to be here and found me instead... if I include that there's a set of children's clothes on the floor..._

_It can't be...  
><em>

"By 'brat' you mean 'Conan' don't you?" I asked. He didn't answer but it was clear I'd hit the nail on the head, my deduction was perfect. I continued, "Yeah, if it's that kid then '_niichan_' would be about right."

_Conan is someone close enough to me that I'd come to a place like this to rescue him, He's managed to get away, for some reason leaving both me and his clothes behind... If I'm really that close to this Conan kid then why can't I remember who he is? It's no use... I have no Idea!_

_I'll have to ask Haibara for answers later, for now I should focus on getting out of here..._

"Well if that's all..." I said casually walking towards the door, Gin was still standing in the doorway, once there was less than three feet between us I broke into a sprint.

He fired a shot but it hit the right lens of the glasses -which I had no idea why I was wearing- and bounced of without even leaving a scratch. The door exited into a hallway which I ran down, still being shot at. Somehow I managed to lose Gin.

I was looking at what seemed to be a map of the facility is an empty office. Yes, I coincidentally ran into an empty office that just happened to have a map of the facility in it, that seriously feels like a trap...

Suddenly I heard a slight tapping sound behind me.

A person grabbed me from behind and covered my eyes with their hand, "Guess _who~~_"

_That voice is... Ran! No, it can't be... Ran wouldn't do something like this... she wouldn't even be here..._

_Vermouth?  
><em>

"Geez, and you call yourself a detective..." The voice suddenly changed to a looser sounding male voice, "taking _so_ long to guess."

_This is... _He took his hand off my face and I turned around to confirm my suspicions. I was correct, this guy was none other than Kaitou Kid.

"Still... you went through puberty pretty fast, _Mei_tantei-kun~"

_What _is_ he talking about... no even more than that... what is _he_ even doing here?_

Just thinking to myself would've gotten me nowhere so I tried asking, "What are you doing here?"

"Isn't that obvious?" He replied, "I'm here to help you out. It'd be no fun for me if you died."

_This guy is seriously annoying..._

"Couldn't you have just stayed small... I was going to escape with you on my hang-glider... but it won't hold both of us if you're like this," Kid said in an annoyed tone, as though he had any right to call me annoying.

"What do you mean by 'if I'm like this'? Are you calling me fat?"

"Well no... but now that you mention it..."

"Whatever... let's just get out of here..." I sighed.

"Oh~" Kid replied, "Being moody today just because you're big?"

...

Long story short Shinichi-niichan and Kaitou Kid managed to escape from the black organization's super secret facility together, after many tsukkomi and boke lines.

"...And _that's _how you got away...?" Haibara asked as if the two had been telling a joke.

They'd come to the professor's house after the incident because Shinichi-niichan wanted an explanation from Haibara and Kid seemed to think it would be interesting to watch.

"The call I received from Conan-kun was about four hours ago, he still had a childish voice so I'll have to assume he hadn't taken the antidote at that time, that would mean you have twenty hours Kudo-kun..." Haibara pointed out.

But Shinichi-niichan was confused because for some reason he couldn't remember me at all, not even the times when he was being me...

"What do you mean by that?" He asked.

"Can't you just deduce it, Meitantei-kun?" Kaitou Kid said, he'd changed out of his usual outfit and into more casual clothing that suspiciously made him look a lot like Shinichi-niichan, "Aren't you supposed to be a detective? Or does being bigger make your brain smaller?"

"It's the fact that you're clearly in on it too that bothers me..." Shinichi-niichan sighed, "Why do you keep saying that I've gotten big?"

"Professor! Are you there?" Ran-neechan shouted from outside, as she opened the door -having gotten no response- she continued, "Is Conan here?"

There was an odd moment of silence as she took in the sight she was looking at.

"There are... two... Shinichi...?" She stammered.

'_oh crap... she's going to misunderstand this...' _Shinichi-niichan rushed to explain, "Ah, Ran, you see... this guy here is Ka-"

"My name is Kaito," Kid said advancing to shake her hand, speaking in an overly suave voice, "It's nice to meet you."

But rather than shaking her hand he faked her out, he bent over and lifted her skirt. _That's really rude for being a chivalrous thief! He shouldn't do things like that!_

Naturally Ran-neechan paid him back in full with some super awesome karate moves.

"You're looking for Conan-kun, right?" Shinichi-niichan suddenly changed the topic, "I'll help you."

_'Shinichi-niichan! I'm right here! You have to make up some excuse like I said I was going to stay over at a friend's house or something!'_

Of course he doesn't acknowledge me at all. Which is pretty annoying.

"What are you doing back Shinichi?" She finally asked, she seemed to be on the verge of tears.

"Oh... I'm just dropping by, I won't be able to stay for long..." He responded, "I think I only have nineteen hours until... I have to leave...?"

He didn't really know what was supposed to be happening after that time passed, but he'd assumed that he had to leave based on what Haibara had said.

_I really hope he remembers about me soon cause if he doesn't this is going to get really boring..._


	12. Meitantei chan

**A bit of comic relief in this chapter as well, but we'll get a bit of story progress in too. I'm sorry to say but this story has_ almost_ reached it's ending... *dum dum duuuuum* You won't believe it when you get there! I've actually already written that part out, I just have to figure out how to get there...  
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**Ok by now I'm sure you know the drill, please enjoy and review.  
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**-._.-._.-**

"You can't help her look for Conan!" Haibara whispered pulling on my sleeve, "Make up an excuse for why he wouldn't be here, and try to make sure she doesn't try to call him while you're nearby either."

_That's strange... wasn't Haibara also worried about Conan going missing? But I just I should do as she asks if I want her to explain everything._

"Oh, I see," I pretended that I had replied to Haibara's whisper, then quickly made up something to tell Ran, "This little girl says that Conan-kun went to one of his other friend's house after school and will be staying there for the night."

"Oh... is that so?" Ran asked looking at Haibara who nodded in confirmation, "but he should have called and checked with me before doing something like that..."

"I'm sure he just forgot to," I replied awkwardly. _Seriously, who is this Conan kid? He has a connection to me, a connection to Haibara, he's fighting against the black organization too, and based on what Ran has been saying he lives with her... _"You should probably head back to your house soon, you left the boiler on when you left to see if Conan-kun was here, didn't you?"_  
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Ran paused for a moment to think before she turned to run out the door, "Ah! You're right! I've got to go!"

Haibara looked at me with narrowed eyes, "How could you have possibly known that?"

"Just a guess," I replied, "She opened the door before any of us answered so she must've been in a hurry, that means left something at home that she couldn't leave alone for very long alone, either that or she was really worried about Conan..."

"Well it's pretty good luck that she left so fast, that little girl can't possibly tell you who Conan really is if your girlfriend is around," Kaitou kid said as he shuffled a deck of cards, he seemed to have recovered from Ran's punishment pretty quickly.

"What was that about anyway, '_Kaito_' couldn't you have picked an alias that _doesn't_ make it obvious that you're Kaitou Kid?"

"Hey, I resent that! Kaito is my real name! No one's been suspicious of me because of it yet!" He said breaking his usual facade, as soon as he'd said it he suddenly looked as though he regretted it. He had an expression that seemed to say 'Crap! I just told a troublesome detective my real name!'

"You're a Kaitou named Kaito?" I couldn't help but laugh.

He recovered his poker face before responding, "Anyway, I had to use my real name,_ you_ were about to make up an alias for me, I didn't want to be stuck being called something weird. We already know you can't make up an alias to save your life... '_Conan Edogawa_'."

"Are you saying..." I trailed off, I didn't want to finish the thought. _If it's true then this is so messed up._

"That's right," Haibara said, "You are 'Conan', and he is you."

_Yeah, my life is officially messed up._

"It seems as though you're memories were changed somehow... but Conan is the only thing you don't remember," Haibara continued, "This seems to be similar to when 'Conan' first showed up and didn't realize that he was you... but I wonder, why?"

_That's odd... what she said just now makes it sound more like Conan and I would be separate people, the same goes for what she said over the phone earlier when she was asking to talk to Conan... It can't be..._

"Multiple personalities?" I said aloud to confirm my hypothesis.

"Correct, though that's relatively recent."

"What was it that Conan said to you on the phone before... you know when you called me to ask what he meant..." I asked, I had been wondering for a while.

She began to blush before turning around, her response was slightly stuttered, "Th-that is he said... *she said something very quietly and I wasn't able to tell quite what it was she said*... and um he said that he was about to do something dangerous and stupid, and he said 'goodbye'... so of course I'd be worried..."

"Tsundere?" Kid or rather _Kaito_ said. Haibara twitched, but otherwise she completely ignored Kaito's comment.

_ I agree, she definitely has a crush on Conan... wait doesn't that mean she would have a crush on me? Whoa... I don't need a love triangle... Ran is enough for me!_

_'Ne, ne Shinichi-niichan... is that true? Do you really think Haibara likes me?'_ A childish voice suddenly resounded in my mind, it's tone was so hopefully happy that it took me a moment to realize what it was.

"Conan?" I asked aloud, not sure if he would hear me reply in my thoughts or not.

Haibara turned to face me with a questioning gaze, and Kaito stared at me with an interested expression.

...

_Yay! Shinichi-niichan heard me!_

_Ohhh! I wanna switch with him now. I want to see what it's like being tall! I want to talk in a deep voice! Oh, this is going to be so cool!_

"You're talking to Conan-kun?" Haibara asked, she still had a little bit of cute pink blush on her face from earlier.

"Um... I guess so..." Shinichi-niichan said, still a little bit unsure of how everything worked.

"Please switch with him real quick, I need to talk to him," Haibara said.

'_She want's to talk to me! She want's to talk to me! Ah! Maybe she's going to answer my confession!'_

Shinichi-niichan heard me and was a little bit surprised that I'd confessed to Haibara, '_Wait you did what?'  
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"Even if you say that... I'm-" Shinichi-niichan started, by I switched with him really quickly, "It's nice to see you again Haibara!"

Kaito-niichan and Haibara both had blank expression after seeing us suddenly switch personalities.

"So this is what it's like being tall! Oh, I bet I can touch the ceiling if I jump..." I tried but I couldn't hit it and I landed on my (actually it would be Shinichi-niichan's) behind, "Owie..."

_'what are you doing? Don't do stupid stuff like that with my body...'_ Shinichi-niichan still seemed to be a bit disturbed by the whole ordeal.

Judging from her face Haibara found it somewhat creepy for me to be in Shinichi-niichan's body. Meanwhile Kaito-niichan wouldn't stop laughing at me._ That's rude you know, cut me some slack, I'm only seven! It's natural that I'm not a cool as Shinichi-niichan._

Haibara cleared her throat, "So, about what you said earlier..."

"I meant it! All of it!"

There was an awkward silence for a moment as though she wasn't sure what to say, I guess she wasn't quite ready to answer me yet.

"Um... did you take the antidote right after you called me," She asked breaking the awkward silence.

"That's right..." I replied.

"Then there should only be about seventeen hours left until it wears off..." She said, still a bit awkwardly, "Then... I think Kudo-kun should spend some time with Ran..."

_'but I'll feel creepy if I go along on Shinichi-niichan and Ran-neechan's date! I don't want to! I don't want to!' _even if that's what I was thinking I knew it was the right thing to do to let those two have an uber romantic afternoon together, so I said, "Okay!"

Kaito-niichan was still laughing, "Hehe~, meitantei-chan is almost as fun as meitantei-kun! I knew I needed to stick around!"

Shinichi-niichan and I switched back after that. So he could prepare for his upcoming date.


	13. Better off not knowing

**Wow... It seems like I'm best with gag-like stuff in normal stories... almost every comment is like 'lol *insert something relevant here*' I'm glad you random strangers think it's funny (Shinichi will always be the perfect tsukkomi^v^)...This chapter is actually going to be really serious (but there is comic relief) and the ending is going to be really serious too you know, you'll be like 'omg I didn't see that coming!'**

**...I think...  
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**Paragraph three is true! (I think.)  
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**well enjoy, I hope I can make you lot laugh some more, please review!  
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**-._.-._.-  
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A date with Ran... normally I would be really happy about this... but there's a seven year old in my head. It's actually really annoying.

If I accidentally say something to Conan out loud instead of in my head Ran would definitely realize that something's wrong, and I won't be able to explain it without telling the truth about everything.

Of course it's just my luck that for the date in question we're going to Tropical Land... After all this time I have some pretty crappy memories of that place, it seems that _every_ time I go I wind up _narrowly_ escaping death. It's Ran that want's to go there, not me.

With all that said I'm currently on a roller coaster heading up the slope of the hill with ten hours (give or take) left until the antidote is supposed to wear off and I'll supposedly turn into Conan, so I definitely need to finish the date and leave the park a fair while before that to be sure that Ran doesn't see anything that will give away my identity.

Am I the _only_ person that finds this situation to be ridiculous? Or maybe I've already reached past the point where ridiculous doesn't even begin to cover exactly how odd my life has been going.

We've just about reached the top of the slope, Ran puts her hand on top of mine.

Conan was reacting the way one would normally expect a teenager to -a strange level of maturity for someone that's supposed to be six. Then again he's also technically me. He was shouting things like _'Oh, how cute!' _in my head or otherwise giggling suspiciously whenever anything with even the slightest romantic implication happens, which -for me at least- ruined the moment completely.

Though I must say, I was able to enjoy the date despite all of this, just not as much as I probably would have under normal conditions.

I won't tell you mysterious random strangers everything that happened on my date, I should have a right to at least that much privacy in my life shouldn't I? It's bad enough that Conan was there... I'd rather have the satisfaction of knowing that the only people who know everything that happened on my and Ran's date are Conan, Ran (though knowing her she'll tell Sonoko later...), and I. Is that too much to ask?

For now we'll fast forward several hours, at this point there should be five hours left until the antidote wears off. Notice I said _should be_ five hours.

For what ever reason at that point, I could feel _it_ coming. I instinctively knew that I was going to change back into Conan, _soon_. I probably wouldn't even have the time to properly tell Ran that I had to go away again, even though there was so much more I wanted to tell her...

_Ah! It hurts...! This is..._

"Ran," I managed to say, I tried not to show any signs of how much pain I was feeling but I'm sure my face looked strained, I looked at my cellphone as though I'd gotten a text message before continuing, "It looks like the time I need to leave has been moved up... I'm sorry Ran. I've really got to go for now... I'll be back whenever I can."

With those parting words I ran off, leaving her behind... again.

"Shinichi!"

I didn't have to look back to know that she was crying.

_It's not fair... I really wish I could just... tell her everything. But then... she'd be in danger too..._

I had put on a brave face, but couldn't stop myself from crying even before the pain became overwhelming. I couldn't even stop myself from screaming just before I changed back.

For a while I cried to myself, with only Conan as a witness.

_I guess... this is the only life I have left..._

...

_Poor Shinichi-niichan. He was supposed to have move time than that... what happened to those last five hours?_

At least he didn't have _another_ near death experience here... though I guess a near death experience with a 'happy ending' would be preferred to a sad ending like this one. But I guess a happy ending still won't be possible in the end...

_Still... Why do I feel like I've been to this place before...?_ Besides that one time when Ran-neechan was amnesiac (*movie four) I shouldn't have ever been to Tropical land but maybe once. _But it feels like something really important happened here... What was it?__  
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I'd already called Haibara and told her the medicine had worn off early and I asked her to get the professor to pick me up.

The one riding home in that yellow beetle with the professor and Haibara, was me. Shinichi-niichan needed some alone time, I understood that more than anyone else ever could. The cool Shinichi-niichan that I always see, he's always putting on a brave face but... he understands how Ran-neechan feels about him, and he knows that all he's doing is hurting her; and having that knowledge hurts him a hundred times more.

"So how did the date go?" Haibara asked.

"It was really fun," I replied, "those two got to spend a lot of time together. It's to bad it was cut off early."

"Yeah," Haibara replied, "... too bad."

There was another awkward moment of silence, between us it seemed to be becoming a regular thing.

I decided to speak up, "I really felt like I'd been there before though but I don't really remember it... I wonder if something happened..."

She seemed to hesitate before replying, "When Kudo-kun was given the poison... he was at Tropical land..."

_Hmmm? Oh yeah, Shinichi-niichan did say something like that earlier..._

"Oh, then maybe I was remembering that a little bit," I replied. But something about that Idea seemed wrong, my detective intuition didn't accept it as the correct answer.

And it's because of that, that I began to realize the truth. The truth we may have been better off not knowing.

_It can't be... am I..._

_No way, there's gotta be a way for me to prove this wrong.  
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	14. Pandora's Box

**I'm sorry Shinichi was so out of character in the last chapter, making him cry made me feel really bad... but I kind of had to do it to make a smooth transition... well I guess there are other ways I could have gone about it, but I wrote it relatively quickly so... yeah... The Shinichi portion of this chapter is mostly comic relief though.  
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**I'm pretty sure I've given plenty of hints throughout the story, if you pride yourself on your detective abilities as a Meitantei Conan fan then I challenge you to try and figure out 'the one truth'. Just in case I'll give an extra hint: It's something that overturns everything that's been established without contradicting the facts.  
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**The next chapter will be the last one... unless I wind up adding an epilogue or something, which I probably won't, because it'd be more fun to leave things hanging...Ah! I shouldn't tell you guys things like that!  
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**-._.-._.-**

Five days have passed since Shinichi-niichan and Ran-neechan's date, both of them cheered up a while ago, or at the very least went back to putting up a front to hide their real emotions. Since that day I've been secretly (It's Shinichi-niichan I'm keeping it a secret from) investigating the thing I noticed at Tropical Land... and I'm not too happy with the results of the investigation._  
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So far... it looks like I was right.

"Ne, ne Ran-neechan, did you notice anything strange before Shinichi-niichan disappeared for his really big case last year?" I asked, hoping that maybe Ran-neechan could disprove me with her testimony.

Shinichi-niichan didn't like it that I was asking her that, _'What are you doing? Are you trying to make her think something happened back then?'_

_'Don't worry, Shinichi-niichan, I'm not going to make her suspicious,'_ I replied to him.

"That was a pretty long time ago... but let's see..." Ran-neechan made a face like she was trying hard to remember, "I don't think that anything was really strange until he suddenly left like that."

"Is that so?" I sighed, I knew she wouldn't have noticed anything from back then, I only asked her because I was hoping she might be able to give me a lead. _But if she didn't notice anything... that means it's even more likely that it's true..._

I didn't want to tell Shinichi-niichan about any of this, because he'd be really sad if he couldn't disprove it either, maybe worse than really sad. Actually I haven't told anyone about what I've been investigating, not even Haibara.

Because the truth I'm looking at is Pandora's box... the second I say anything about it, it'll be impossible to take back. It's Pandora's box whether I'm right or wrong... but even more so if I'm right.

_The only other people I could question would be... no, asking them would give me the answer, assuming they answer honestly). I don't want to know that badly, or rather, if it's true... I'd rather forget about it and let the days continue peacefully like this._

_But there's no way I'd forget, this is way too serious for that. This truth would turn the entire situation upside down and inside out, it would change everything that's been established as the truth until now. At least as long as I can I want to protect the peace, I won't say anything about this to anyone until I'm 100% sure it's true._

_I get the feeling that these peaceful days won't be lasting much longer anyway._

...

Conan had been acting strange for the past few days, but no matter how I asked he would reply as though nothing was wrong despite there clearly being something wrong. His strangeness had increased even more today when he asked a question that seemed like he was intentionally trying to make Ran suspicious of me, though most of his strange behavior had been purely mental and he showed very few signs of change on the surface.

In fact he's not talking to me very much, and he's constantly guarding his thoughts against me: it's almost as if he's avoiding me. No, at this point it was clear that he more or less was trying to avoid me, at the very least he's trying to hide something from me.

At that time I just brushed it off as nothing though, I didn't expect the secret to be so huge, I had naively assumed that he was hiding his thoughts from me because he was embarrassed for me to see his thoughts about Haibara (which were, admittedly, sometimes creepy coming from a seven year old me).

If only I had known what he was going through I would have tried to reassure him, but by the time he'd admitted the problem it was no longer a matter of reassurance, he'd already put together all the puzzle pieces together and discovered the unthinkable truth.

"Guess who~" came a random familiar voice with the sensation of a hand in front of my face.

"Kaito," I said, not bothering to mask my annoyed tone.

This had become a reoccurring thing since that run in with the black organization. Kaitou Kid, in his normal clothes, would every now and then come to_ play with_ (read: _torment_) me, using the excuse of being Conan Edogawa's older brother, Kaito Edogawa (this excuse was mostly so Ran would not question why he looked so much like 'Shinichi').

Today wasn't one of the rare times that we paid the excuse any mind, we were at the professor's house rather that the detective agency. The actual reason I was here was to try to convince Haibara to give me some of the antidote pills so I could carry them around... just in case... but unfortunately she and the professor were out shopping so I was waiting for them.

"Aww... it's no fun when you guess so quickly, Meitantei-kun..."

"Then stop doing it."

"So cold Meitantei-kun? Why can't you be nicer, like Meitantei-chan?" He asked while pulling away from me over dramatically.

I ignored his strange demeanor and replied, "You're just lucky I don't have any way to prove that you're Kaitou Kid, I'd have arrested you by now."

At that moment the door burst open, "Yo! I dropped by de detective agency and ya weren't there, but Ran told me ya were over here..."

I'm sure that without me saying you can tell precisely who the intruder was, in case you can't I'd suggest you take a look at his accent and think about it a bit, it's not that hard.

He of course had not been expecting to see me arguing with someone that looked like me (only seventeen rather than seven) when he walked in, "Eh? ...Kudo... and... little Kudo?"

That's right, this person with an Osaka accent is the one and only person who calls me 'Kudo' without any regard to the circumstances at hand, Heiji Hattori, the High school detective of the west. At least it wasn't a problem that he'd called me 'Kudo' this time, as there was no one around that didn't already know, but I would have been doomed if there had been anyone nearby.

"Having trouble processing, Meitantei-san?" Kaito asked, in his usual strange tone.

_Why does Heiji get '-san' if I'm '-kun'? _I wondered pointlessly. It was probably just a way of differentiating who he meant anyway.

"De small one is dat cold girl in disguise again, ain't it?" Heiji asked Kaito, clearly assuming that it's easier to fake Conan than Shinichi.

"Indeed, you truly are a great detective for figuring out so fast," Kaito confirmed, shooting me a 'heh heh heh heh, I win' smile.

Heiji presumably didn't realize that this was strange behavior for 'Kudo', because his detective skills had been complimented, but it's possible that he was playing along for the fun of it.

"_Baka_," I said, mostly to myself.

"I'm a detective not an idiot," Heiji replied defensively.

"Not being able to tell you're so-called best friend apart from this useless magician makes you an idiot. Baka."

"Eh? So yer Kudo? Whoze dat then?" He said pointing at Kaito.

"That's Kaito-" I started to say.

"Just 'Kaito' is enough, it's bad enough that you know, Meitantei-kun," his earlier victorious expression now seemed to say:_ 'Please! Don't tell another troublesome detective about my identity!'_

Heiji seemed to be thinking for a little bit, "So it's Kaitou Kid?"

"Eh?" Kaito spazzed and lost his poker face for just a moment, he was clearly thinking '_how did he guess_'.

"Right... but surprisingly that's his real appearance..." I said, mostly to move things along quicker.

"He really should use a better alias than '_Kaito_' it's so obvious," Heiji stated.

Kaito seemed annoyed, "But it's my _real_ name!"

"Eh? Really?"

"That doesn't matter," I interrupted the useless conversation, "What are you doing here anyway?"

"I'm just visiting ya, no real reason dis time," He explained.

This charade from out of a comedy routine went on for much longer than I would have liked before Haibara and the professor returned home.

_'Hey... while everyone's here there's something I'd like to say...'_ Conan said to me suddenly, _'it's about my memories...'_

Naturally I didn't see any problem with it, I had assumed he was about to say what he had been worried about this whole time. My assumption was correct, but I wasn't able to guess the content of his worries.

"It's too bad there can only be _one_ truth..." He began, his tone was so similar to my usual tone that the others weren't even able to tell that we had switched, "Unfortunately, _I've_ solved this case..."

...and what an unfortunate _truth_ it was.


	15. The one truth's parallel

**Ta-da Here's the last chapter! It's really long compared to the previous ones, but it's really interesting (though I'm kinda biased to say that)!**

** I really had fun writing this story, but I wanted it to end with Conan's deduction revealing the truth... with an ending like this though there's room that if I wanted to I could continue by making a sequel like part 2 or something like that (if you want me to do that please say so).**

**It would have been really difficult to not contradict the original manga and anime at all, but I tried to make sure that everything was possible by what had happened up to this point in the original storyline, so if there's any contradictions I'm sorry, that would mean I missed some obscure detail but I'm relatively sure I covered all the obscure details... so maybe I missed a normal detail ^v^  
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**I hope you all enjoyed reading my story even if only a little bit, and also please review.**  
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_It relates to his memories?  
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_Now that I think about it, it's actually very strange... How is it possible for Conan to have a full set of memories, not to mention that they're completely different than mine... it doesn't make any sense, unless he's real._

But _that_ would be impossible. _Conan isn't real, I am Conan, I made him up, even the name._

_Then how does he have his own memories? Some of them are things from his background that I never made up, or various childhood memories that take place at places I've never been to._ _There even seem to be a few that contradict the background that I made up._

_It's really strange that Conan has such clear memories of things that didn't happen or don't exist._

"I've solved the case..." Conan said aloud suddenly, "I understand why there are so many inconsistencies..."

_Hmm... What does he mean?_

"My memory has been bothering me for a while now, it's strange for me to remember so much when I'm just a fabricated personality, right?" Conan asked in my deduction tone.

I agreed. So did Heiji, Haibara, Kaito, and Agasa.

"But what if I'm not?"

"That's impossible" was the general consensus. It's Conan's memories that don't meet up with everyone else's, if he's saying his are all correct then fundamentally he's calling us liars.

"Can any of you prove that before that day a boy that was related to the professor and Yukiko Kudo didn't exist? Whether or not this boy's name is 'Conan Edogawa doesn't really matter. You can't, right? On the other hand my memories count as proof that I did exist."

_'by that reasoning you'd be saying 'Shinichi Kudo' doesn't exist,_' I interjected.

Heiji also said something similar at about the same time.

"Of course I wouldn't say that 'Shinichi Kudo' didn't exist, that would be ridiculous, there's too much proof that he did exist to say such a thing. But if you recall, for some time before I appeared... Shinichi-niichan was unaccounted for. Also Shinichi-niichan fainted not long after being given the poison, and he woke up in this body; there is no actual witness of him shrinking."

I had begun to understand the fundamental point of his theory, and it made my skin crawl.

"What if Shinichi Kudo _actually _died that day?"

_That... There's no way...  
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Kaito was the first to regain his composure, "You mean to say that the current Shinichi Kudo is an alternate personality that you, Conan-kun, developed."

"That's exactly what I'm saying. I also thought that maybe that he is Shinichi-niichan's spirit possessing me, but I don't really believe in ghosts and stuff like that so I discounted that theory," Conan replied, "but because I knew Shinichi-niichan it's possible that I could make an alternate personality like him after he died."

"Shinichi never mentioned knowing a Conan..." professor Agasa started.

"Because I was a secret," he replied, "Shinichi-niichan's secret little brother that was born in America."

_What? There is no such thing! I'm an only child!  
><em>  
>Everyone was speechless, every possible hole in his theory that we came up with... He could answer.<p>

"Apotoxin 4826 was given to Kudo and the organization never found his body; I myself am proof that the poison can have an anti-ageing effect, and that it is real," Haibara said with a cold tone, "and the effectiveness of the antidotes should also serve as proof, if it's true that your body isn't the shrunken body of Shinichi Kudo, how is is that the experimental antidotes have been able to make your body that of a high schooler?"

"Haibara... You're older than Shinichi-niichan aren't you? Isn't it strange then, that both of you after taking the poison were given bodies that were the same age? The dosage of poison was probably the same, right, so why are you seven, and not a bit older than that? It's true that the poison shrunk you to around the age of six or seven, and it's true that the poison shrunk Shinichi-niichan... But don't you think he might would have shrunk more than you did? Maybe so much that it was as if he was no longer there?"

_No way... He's saying my body was shrunk to the point that it couldn't be found!  
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>"As for the antidotes... what effect would it have on a normal person that hadn't taken the poison? You haven't tested that have you, because there was no need? Actually, it hasn't been tested on anyone besides me, who's to say it wouldn't have an aging effect on a normal person, or even that it would have the same effect on you as it does on me?"<p>

_Everything he says makes sense... In a kind of twisted way... He was definitely thinking very hard about this before he mentioned his theory. He would have never said anything if there were any holes, because he didn't want this to be the truth either._

_Wait... 'What about your eyesight, even you said that you couldn't see without your glasses, but it was proven that you could see perfectly without them.'  
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>"About my glasses... At the time that Shinichi-niichan disappeared I was wearing them as a disguise, so that I wouldn't look like Shinichi-niichan while I was visiting him in Japan, because it's a secret that we're brothers, when that accident occurred some of our memories were messed up and I had tricked myself into thinking I really needed the glasses, Shinichi-niichan also doesn't remember about me. The reason why my name was 'Conan Edogawa' instead of 'Conan Kudo', when Ran-neechan had asked for his name Shinichi-niichan knew that saying his own name would be bad and said 'Conan' on impulse, the 'Edogawa' part was all that was really improvised."<p>

Everyone was shocked, they couldn't disprove any of it, the only people who would be able to... would be my parents. _It made sense though, if it were true that he and I were secretly brothers then it's understandable that Conan always got annoyed when Heiji called him 'Kudo', he was worried about his secret getting out, but he never told Heiji that his name was 'Conan Edogawa' he had only said 'Conan is Conan'. It's also reasonable to assume that my parents would have known this truth all along and were merely playing along with their younger son's detective game, they'd be crazy enough to actually do something like that.  
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Heiji asked a question that we were probably all wondering, "and why would you be the only one to know that Kudo died?"

"That would be because I witnessed it," Conan replied, small tears were forming at the edge of his eyes, "I had been playing at tropical land that day and I saw Shinichi-niichan run after those shady guys, I followed and hid in the bushes... I saw the whole thing. After a little bit Shinichi-niichan had stopped moving... I wasn't watching at that time because I couldn't stop crying, but once I had stopped I saw Shinichi-niichan's clothes just laying in the grass... at that time I thought he must've still been alive but now I'm pretty sure he disappeared because the poison shrank him. My clothes had gotten really dirty in the park so I put on Shinichi-niichans clothes cause he'd just left them there, and I sat down for a bit to rest before I went home... But I wasn't able to remember after that."

_There are a few strange things in that story, to many things are inconsistent. Why was 'Conan' alone at tropical land if he was in Japan to visit me? How did Gin and Vodka not realize that he was watching? Why was he not wearing glasses at that time? And what had happened to make his clothes dirty enough that he would change into mine? And why would he have developed an alternate personality from just that? _

_But even I can think of a few answers to those, whether or not they're correct is the issue: He saw me and decided to follow me before he noticed Ran and decided to wait to approach me at a time when I was alone, he dropped the glasses somewhere in the park, he probably tripped and got mud on them after all it had been raining, psychological trauma from seeing his brother shrink. If these answers were correct then everything fits together.  
><em>

But there was still something bothering me.

"Did you just say that you didn't actually see 'me' shrink?" I asked._  
><em>

"Yeah..." Conan replied.

I'm sure the others found it strange that I was suddenly talking out loud, and even stranger that Conan's reply was also out loud. With it like that it was difficult for them to keep up with who was actually talking, it's probably better than them only being able to hear one side of the conversation anyway. Though I wasn't thinking about that at the time.

I had found a hole in Conan's deduction.

"Then assuming that everything you've said up until now is true..." I paused, it was hard to find the right words for what I was trying to say, "Isn't it possible that 'I'/'Shinichi Kudo' am/is still alive?"

...

_That's right... it's possible that he'd shrunk and run off and hasn't contacted anyone because he doesn't want them to get involved, or he was shrunken to a baby and picked up by some passing bystander while unconscious or something. I already thought about these possibilities, but would he or a bystander that was kind enough to pick up a random baby really ignore a crying child nearby? And why were his clothes left?_

I tried asking this aloud._ If it's Shinichi-niichan then he would have already thought of that much before mentioning the possibility, right._

"If I had run off because I didn't want to get anyone involved then I would try to make sure that everyone thought I was dead..." He replied, "Under normal circumstances you'd have ran to my house and told Ran and everyone that I'd died when you saw me disappear, right?"

_That sounds about right..._

"But instead you wound up developing and alternate personality -or maybe it's more complicated than that. In any case it's possible that even if Conan is really 'Conan Kudo' it's possible that there's a real shrunken 'Shinichi Kudo' out there somewhere, though I hate to think that 'I' might be a fake but I doubt that this kid would have made all of that up for no reason so it's logical to believe he at least thinks he's telling the truth," Shinichi-niichan sighed, "The only way to really be sure about any of this would be to contact my (our?) parents and find out whether or not 'Shinichi Kudo' is an only child, if it's true that 'I' am an only child then that means I'm the real Shinichi, but if not then Conan is real. If that turns out to be the case... why don't we try to find the real Shinichi Kudo?"

"Is it possible for a seven year old to be smart enough to imitate Kudo-kun to the degree that not even Ran was able to tell it wasn't him?" Haibara asked coldly.

"Yeah, I was wondering about dat myself," Heiji agreed.

"_Oh~!_" Kaito spoke up, in the eccentric tone he often used as Kaitou Kid, "Then shall we go back to Meitantei-chan's spirit theory?"

Everyone turned to look at him. If nothing else it was strange for him, a magician who uses trick to fool the eyes, to be suggesting the existence of supernatural things.

"Magic and the supernatural exist," He said, continuing to use his eccentric tone, "The jewel that I've been searching for isn't something that can be explained by logic. Also, I personally know a real witch, as much as I hate to admit it her magic is definitely real. So I guess ghosts and such probably exist as well..."

"Then... It would be possible... That both this Kudo and Conan are the real thing?"

"There's no way we could ever prove that..."

"But... you're curious right? Let's try and find out."

"Anyone'd be curious hearing something like dat."

"So let's go find Shinichi-niichan and beat up the black organization together!"

"I'm right here you know..."

"I mean your real body... if it's all true..."

"How do you intend to start looking for something like that?"

"First, we should prolly get Kaito's witch friend ta look at Conan/Kudo."

"I never said she was a friend, besides why do I have to help too? I don't want another troublesome detective running around."

"Like it or not you're involved in this too."

"Fine, but you better not get in my way if you come back, alright, Meitantei-kun?"

_I'm glad... I was only half right. With this, there's a chance for a happy ending..._


End file.
